The Life of Charonus: Book 2 Johto
by Charonus-Rex
Summary: A new land to explore and new challenges to overcome. Charonus' adventures with his friends continue in the region of Johto
1. Chapter 1

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 1: Whispers of Shadows**

High above the skies of Johto, a shadowy figure heads for the summit of Mount Silver. "Looks like that presence from Kanto finally met their demise, but maybe there is something left there that I could make use of." The figure reaches the mountains summit and inspects the area, eventually spotting something that catches its eye. Lifting up the object it sees with its psychic energy, it inspects the crystal like jewel. "Hmmm, this could be very useful in my conquest over that foolish Rainbow Pokemon, but I will wait for the right time." The shadowy figure flies away, back into Johto, smiling as he plots his schemes.

Cynder looks around the small town, seeing a few humans as well as some Pokemon. "This place seems nice." Draco looks around as well, "Yeah, seems quite a bit different from Kanto though." A nearby human in a lab coat hears the groups discussion and turns to face them. When he spots the group, he is impressed at what he sees. "Hmmm...how interesting. I was told that there was an interesting group of Pokemon coming from Kanto soon, but I never thought that they would be this interesting." Cynder looks over at this human with a questioning look on her face, "Ummm...excuse me?" The human straightens up, surprised at this strange dragon types ability to speak his language. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean anything by my words. My name is Professor Elm. I am the Pokemon professor for the Johto region. I was told by my colleague in Kanto, Professor Oak, that a strange group were on their way here from Kanto to train with the legends that reside here." Charonus looks up at Professor Elm. "Huh, he told you that?" Professor Elm looks at Charonus, wondering what the little Charmander has said. "Our friend was asking if Professor Oak told you of why we are on our journey." Bowser says. Professor Elm nods, "Yes, he has been studying the information on your Charmander friend extensively, and has come to the conclusion that interactions with more of the worlds legends will help him out." Draco nods, "That is why we are helping him out as well." Professor Elm nods, "Then I wish you well on your journeys. You should go see Ecruteak City first as that is where the Sacred Beast trio dwells to test man and Pokemon alike." Cynder nods, "Then that will be our first stop within Johto, thank you Porfessor." The group turns to leave and Professor Elm waves goodbye to them.

As they leave the small town, Cynder looks in her bag and spots a map of Johto inside. She begins to study it carefully, "Looks like we can head up Route 29, pass through a place called Cherrygrove, and make our way up Route 30 to reach Ecruteak City." Charonus stares off into the distance, wondering what the legends of this region even look like. He begins thinking to himself. " _Will they be birds like in Kanto, or something different. I can't wait to meet them_." Bowser looks back at the little Charmander that is perched on his shell. "Hey, you ok there little buddy?" Charonus snaps out of his wondering, "Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine, just wondering what these legends in Johto would look like." Draco looks back at the pair, "Yeah, you and me both Charonus. It will be interesting to see what training in Johto will be like."

As the group continues to converse amongst themselves, a dark figure watches them from the underbrush of the route, " _I wonder if this group would be able to help me_." The figure continues to watch them as they traverse the route, heading into Cherrygrove City. The group passes through the city, seeing the same interactions that they saw in New Bark Town between the humans and Pokemon that reside there. "It sure is nice to see humans and Pokemon getting along so well here, a lot better than our experiences with Team Rocket in Kanto." Draco remarks. "Thats for sure, I will never forgive them for what they tried to do near Pallet Town." Bowser says with a hint of anger in his voice. "I'm with you on that, I can't stand them hurting others...it just burns me up inside." Charonus says as his tail flame flares up a little. "Let's just hope that we never have to see that group ever again..." Cynder responds to Charonus' and Bowser's remarks. Heading through Cherrygrove towards Route 30.

As the group exits the north end of town, they bump into a red haired human who is talking to himself about something. " _What a foolish old man, why should I care about his quest to obtain that Pokemon...I have told him time and again that I never want to be a part of his group of clowns and that I want nothing to do with him. It's his fault anyway that he got his legs torched...and now he has the gall to try and hunt down this shadow legend that he's heard about here after his failure in Kanto. I hope the shadows consume his mind completely..._ " The red haired human walks past the group, only looking up for a mere moment, but locking eyes with Charonus. Charonus shudders a bit, feeling like he's seen a familiar presence. The group continues walking and eventually finds a spot to camp for the night.

"Did you guys see that red haired human as we exited Cherrygrove?" Charonus asks the group. "He gave me chills..." Draco looks up, "Huh, he just seemed like a brooding human, nothing to worry about to me." Cynder remarks, "I wonder what could of been on his mind though..." Charonus tries to put it out of his mind as they gather around the campfire for their dinner. The group converses the rest of the night about their next objectives, and what training will be in store for the young Charmander. The group eventually turns in for the night, lulled to sleep by the sounds of night time Pokemon. As Charonus sleeps, he enters his dreamscape and sees his inner Charizard self shaken and quite disturbed. "Huh? What is wrong?" Charonus asks. "That human that you locked eyes with...he gives off the same vibes that the man in Kanto gave us. The one that seemed to control those other humans of Team Rocket..." Charonus lowers his head some, "Yeah...I know what you mean, but he didn't try to do anything to us luckily." Charonus and the group continue to sleep as an owl like Pokemon creeps into their camp. It begins to whisper into their minds. " _Violet thunder strikes within reach, what will it have to teach. Tread lightly within the land and learn from the frosted sand. Nearby where dragons dwell, a battle with fire will instruct you well. Beware the one of dark silvered wings, lest ye be put under its control. Free the one of light silver, and let balance regain its flow._ " This chant goes on and on through the minds of the group as they sleep up until day dawns and they wake.

Draco looks at the group as he wakes up, "Did any of you have any strange dreams last night?" Bowser looks over, "Was it like somebody chanting something?" Cynder looks over at Bowser and Draco, "Yeah...but what does it mean 'The one of dark silver wings', and who is this other one 'Of light silver'?" Charonus just shrugs, unable to come up with a response. The group coverses on this, trying to figure out what these whispers were all about as they have breakfast. "I still don't understand the bit about these silvered things, but what about the thunder, frost and fire?" Draco questions. "The chanting said that all three would teach somehow...could it be the next test for our Charmander friend?" Cynder responds. "Quite a cryptic way to tell us info...I don't like it." Bowser huffs. "Anyway, I think we should pack up camp and head out. There is a lot of road to travel to reach Ecruteak." The group nods and readies themselves to head out, unbeknownst to them that a dark figure continues still to watch them, waiting for the moment to make its presence known.


	2. Chapter 2

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 2: Chasing the Fires of a New Friendship**

Several days earlier, a lone Pokemon stands within the underbrush of Route 30 in Johto during the chaos atop Mount Silver. His eyes never leave the mountain as the ground quakes around him. "Whatever is happening up there I hope that everything is ok." He watches as the ground suddenly stops shaking, and the once turblent airspace at the peak clears. The Pokemon lets out a smile as he sees this. He turns to head deeper into the route to try and resume his own quest to see if anyone can possibly help him in his plight.

The group, finished with packing their camp up, discusses their next objectives. "Looking at this map, if we continue up Route 30 we will eventually come to Violet City. After that, it's just a stones throw away to reach Ecruteak and the Three Sacred Beasts." Cynder says as she studies the map. Bowser, Charonus, and Draco nod as they prepare to set out on the route. As the group makes their way up the long route, they are continually watched by an unseen Pokemon. " _Could this group of strange Pokemon be the ones that stopped thestrange occurance atop Mount Silver from several days ago? Maybe I can get their help in my own plight...nobody else seems willing to help..._ " The Pokemon hangs its head low for a moment, letting out a small wimper and a tear from its eye.

As the group reaches a third of the way up the route, they see a gathering of small Pidgey and Rattata. "Something has gotta be done about that Houndoom...he keeps riling up the locals every day." says one of the Pidgey. "I know what you mean, always coming out of nowhere and scaring those nearby. He's such a menace. Who cares if he says that he's something else. All I see is a nuisance." says one of the Rattata. One of the Pokemon gathered spots the group coming up the path. He gets the attention of the others gathered. The gathering eventually walks over to the group. "Hello travellers, good to see some other Pokemon travelling today." Charonus looks down at the Pidgey who is speaking and jumps off of Bowser's shell. "It is a good day to travel, but we must make haste to our destination before it gets late." The Pidgey nods, "Just a mere warning then. If you spot a strange Houndoom, it is best to stay away. He has been trying to get anyone that will listen to help him in his plight...or so he says. I really don't believe a word he says, and you shouldn't either." Charonus frowns, "I don't really know what it is you have against a simple Houndoom, but if there is a way I can help, I will. I think it might help me in my quest for balance to help out before I get to the Sacred Beasts in Ecruteak." The Pidgey is taken aback at this Charmander's words, thinking to himself that the Charmander must be crazy. Not only does he say that he will help the Houndoom, but also see the Sacred Beasts. "I...see, well, I wish you luck then. Not to be rude, but I think that you are crazy." The Pidgey looks down for a moment as suddenly something strikes his memory as he remembers his relatives in Kanto saying something about a group, matching the description of those in front of him. "Wait, are you the group that stopped the dark one on Mount Silver?" The Pidgey asks. Charonus simply nods. The Pidgey speaks again, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean anything bad by my words. I shouldn't keep you any longer. Safe travels."

Charonus jumps back onto Bowser's shell as they walk past the gathering and head further up the route. "So, a strange Houndoom. Do any of you know what one looks like?" Bowser, Cynder and Draco look at eachother and shrug. The group continues on thier way, conversing and wondering about the Houndoom, and the Sacred Beasts. They get to about the halfway point up the route when they spot another Pokemon darting around. This Pokemon is a quadrapedal, black dog like Pokemon and adorned with what appear to be bone like protrusions sprouting from its head and back. The Pokemon looks over and locks eyes with the group. Bowser looks over to Cynder and Draco, "Do you think that this could be the Houndoom that the Pidgey was talking about?" Draco nods, "I think it could be."

The Houndoom runs up to the group, clearly in some sort of panic. "Hey guys, do you think you can help me out? To get me out of the way from interfering in his plots, a dark skinned Lugia changed me into what you see before you. I'm not supposed to look like this." The Houndoom lowers his head. The group looks at eachother, unsure of what to say to this Houndoom, and even more unsure about if what he says is true. Charonus looks back over at the Houndoom and wonders about this dark Lugia he has spoken of, then he remembers the chant that he heard in his dream the night prior. " _Beware the one of dark silvered wings, lest ye be put under its control. Free the one of light silver, and let balance regain its flow._ " Charonus jumps down from Bowser's shell and walks over to the Houndoom. "May I ask, what is your name?" The Houndoom looks at the small Charmander in front of him, "My name? My name is Chase. Does this mean that you believe my plight?" Charonus answers, "I'm not sure if I believe you yet Chase, but I believe that everyone deserves a chance to be heard. We are on our way to see the Sacred Beasts that reside in Ecruteak, maybe they can help you." Chase's face lights up in hearing this, "Thank you, you are the first one to listen to me and try to help." Draco, Bowser and Cynder seem unsure, but they smile at how Charonus handled this situation.

As the now larger group resumes their journey to Ecruteak, Chase begins to speak more about his plight. "My memory is a little foggy due to the magic at work putting me in this form, but I know I am not supposed to be a Houndoom. I forget what I am really though." Charonus continues to listen to Chase as he talks, trying to hear anything that could lead to what his true identity is. Chase describes some areas that he can remember in his mind, and as he tries to decribe a tower that resides in a far off region, Charonus' perks his head up. "Wait, a tower huh, can you describe it more for me Chase?" Chase stops for a moment and tries to remember, "Well...my mind is fuzzy, but it is said to be the oldest building in the region I come from, but that is all I know." Hearing this, Charonus searches his mind for a moment and catches a memory of an old tower with a strange black dragon like Pokemon at its peak with a blue, thunder like aura surrounding it. Chase looks up at Charonus, "Are you ok Charonus?" Charonus, snapping out of his memory, looks down at Chase, "Yeah, I think I have seen the tower in my memory, eventhough I have never been there. I have had strange dreams of areas and Pokemon that I think that I will be visiting soon and at the tower in my memory I have seen a black dragon type that has control over thunder." Chase thinks for a moment, then says only one word, "Zekrom."

Draco, Bowser, and Cynder, listening in to Charonus' and Chase's conversation wonders what 'Zekrom' actually means, but they keep it to themselves. The group continues, and eventually passes through Violet City, noting that some of the Pokemon there shy away as Chase walks by. "They really don't seem to care for you huh?" Charonus asks Chase. "Yeah...it's the same everywhere I go. Your group is really the only ones who didn't, and I thank you for that." Chase hangs his head low as he says this. Charonus climbs off of Bowser's shell and lands on Chase's back. "I think everyone deserves to be heard." Chase smiles somewhat at this. The group continues through and heads up the short Routes towards Ecruteak, eventually setting up a camp just outside of the cities outskirts. The group converses over Chase's story, and of what their next plans are once they meet the Sacred Beasts that are said to dwell within Ecruteak itself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 3: The Sacred Beasts of Ecruteak**

The group gathers around their campfire, conversing with Chase about what he knows, and what is happening within Johto. "I know that your memory is fuzzy Chase, but do you know what is happening within Johto, and who this dark Lugia is?" asks Cynder. Chase responds, "I have faint memories of wanting to visit an old friend in this region, but much after that is really foggy. All I really remember is waking up near the Whirl Islands with the area being completely sealed off with a barrier." Chase hangs his head down. Charonus looks over and tries to cheer Chase up and gives him some food. Chase looks at the group again, "But what I want to know is why you four are travelling through this region." Bowser responds, "It's a long story, but in short, we are helping Charonus out on his quest to strengthen himself." Charonus speaks up, "I was told by Mewtwo in Kanto that I will have to visit the legends of every region to help in this quest..." Charonus hangs his head down, "I just don't want a repeat of what happened at Cinnabar to happen again because of my corrupted flame..." Draco pats Charonus on the back, "You have been doing well though, so don't be sad." Charonus smiles at Draco's words.

After the group finishes their conversation and dinner, they turn in for the night, unbeknownst to them that three pair of eyes watch them from within Ecruteak's walls. As the group sleeps, a familiar little owl returns to them, chanting the same things and more. " _Beware the red skinned one of the lake, his rage shall make you quake. Truth and Ideals lie in the dog of doom, which one though will be allowed to bloom?The man with burned legs still calls, stop his words coming from the golden bird of rainbows seeks aid, will you be his guiding blade?_ " The chant continues until the morning again.

The group awakens after the mysterious owl Pokemon leaves for the underbrush. "Again with the strange chanting like the night before, but this time with more." Charonus says groggily. Chase looks over at Charonus, "I heard it too, just like several other nights for me." Cynder responds, "What have the whispers told you Chase?" Chase answers, "I remember the words vividly, ' _A group from Kanto arrives soon, seek them out for friendship to bloom_ ', those words is what has had me going, trying to find this group that the whispers mentioned." Draco says, "I see, just like those dreams that Charonus had in Kanto, apparently these whispers tell of events in our future." Bowser looks at Draco, "Yeah, I get that feeling too, but it's still wierd to me how it's delivered." Cynder responds, "Well, the mind is more receptive to things as the body rests, as for the prophesies that these whispers state, they seem to be relevant to this region alone." The group converses more on these whispers as they pack up their camp and prepare to enter into Ecruteak.

The group slowly enters the city and looks around, marvelling at the architecture. Chase stays behind the group, trying to hide himself from any onlookers that may pass by. "Hey Chase, come on and walk with us." Charonus says from atop Bowser's shell. Chase looks up and slightly shakes his head. Charonus jumps down and onto Chase's back, "Things are going to be alright, you have some good friends beside you now." Chase smiles somewhat at Charonus' words. Draco stops for a moment and looks at the group, "So, where do we look for these Sacred Beasts?" Bowser simply shrugs. Cynder responds to Draco, "Not sure, let's continue looking around." The group continues to wander through Ecruteak for half the day when a Rattata with a strange purple glow in it's eyes spots them and comes over. "Looks like you are trying to search for something." The Rattata looks at the group, taking note of all five of them, "And by the look on your faces, it is something quite important." Charonus speaks up, "Yes, we are trying to find where the Sacred Beasts dwell. We heard that they could be found in this city." The Rattata looks up at the Charmander atop the Houndoom's back. "I see, so you are here for their training. Look towards the north of the city for a burned out tower, the trio lies in wait inside, Charonus." Charonus looks down at the Rattata, "H-huh? How do you know my name?" The Rattata smiles, "I am the emmissary to the Sacred Trio. Raikou, Entei and Suicune told me of your groups arrival. They have been eagerly waiting for you since the incident on Mount Silver." Charonus nods, "T-thanks, I guess. So look for a burned out tower at the north of the city, correct?" The Rattata nods. As the group heads out, the Rattata scurries off towards the underbrush and past a strange green bird Pokemon who releases it's psychic control over it. "The prophecy is fulfilled and the course is set, his power will grow after the training from this trio is met"

Arriving to the north end of Ecruteak, the group looks around and spots two towers in the distance, one tall one shining like silver in the daylight, the other a burned out husk of a tower. "Looks like we have found our destination," Charonus says. Draco looks up at the silvery tower, "I would like to take a look at that tower too, but I know that we are on a time crunch." Cynder smiles, "Ever curious Draco? Just like you keep wanting to take a trip to Japan someday, especially Kyoto. I too hope that sometime we can do that in our own world, maybe even live there too." Bowser chimes in, "I would miss you guys if you left, you know. I would hope if that does happen, and you move to Japan that I could visit, or even live there with you." Cynder and Draco nod. Draco pats Bowser on his shell, "Of course you can buddy. I could never forget about you, and maybe Charonus and Chase would like too as well." Charonus blushes slightly, not knowing what to say at the kind words of his friends while Chase can't believe that someone would would ask this of someone they just met. Chase speaks, "This is all well and good, but can we please continue to that burned tower? I am as eager to meet with the trio as Charonus probably is." Draco, Cynder and Bowser, snapping back to their senses, nod at eachother and the group head toward the burned tower.

The group slowly enters the tower and looks around, "So, where do you think the Sacred Beasts are?" asks Draco as he looks around curiously. "Not too sure, but there shouldn't be a lot of ground to cover to look for them." responds Cynder. Just as Cynder replies, a glowing set of eyes shines in the daylight that reaches in from the open roof. A commanding, yet gentle voice calls from the shadows. "So, you have finally arrived Charonus. Come, I will lead you to the others where we have much to discuss." A sleek, blue colored Pokemon with a flowing purple mane and crystal shaped crest steps forward from the shadows. "My name is Suicune, the others are waiting below us. There we shall detail the training that you are to undertake, as well as some troubling news." Suicune turns to head to where the others are. "Please follow me."

The group follows behind Suicune, unsure of what to make of this news of troublesome events that he referenced, but they stay silent as they continue deeper into the tower. The group heads down a set of stairs leading to the basement, and as they enter, they see two other Pokemon around a small fire, illuminating them. The group looks at the other two and takes note of them. One is a yellow, sabretooth like Pokemon whose tail curiously looks like a lightning bolt. The other is a strong, orange-red furred Pokemon who curiously has iron bands around his ankles. Suicune speaks, "These are my brothers, Entei and Raikou. We were Pokemon that were lost in the fire that consumed this tower, but the rainbow one breathed new life into us." Suicune looks directly at the group, "But now we must repay his help, for an evil shadow has taken hold within our region of Johto. One that is more powerful than the fledgeling shadow that was in Kanto."

The group looks at the Sacred Beasts intensely. Charonus finally speaks up, "Wait, more powerful than Shadow Mewtwo was?! How is that possible?" Suicune replies, "Keep calm young Charmander, we shall explain everything to you in time." Raikou speaks, "Unbeknownst to you, we have been keeping tabs on what was going on in Kanto, and we have seen some disturbing happenings from Mount Silver." Entei comes forth and speaks, "Your efforts there indeed saved that region from Shadow Mewtwo's reign, but he was not completely destroyed, his Pokecore still remains and is now in the hands of the shadow that resides within our region, Shadow Lugia." The group gasps at this revelation, "Does this mean that Shadow Lugia can use Shadow Mewtwo's power?" questions Cynder. Entei nods, "Indeed young dragoness, and this spells major trouble for this region, and despite our own powers, we are of no help to Ho-oh in this troubling time."

Suicune looks towards the group, more directly towards Chase, "Also there are other happenings caused by Shadow Lugia as well. Lugia has been sealed within his home at the Whirl Islands as he hibernated by Shadow Lugia, thus making it easier to try and cover this region with his shadows. We also have reports that Shadow Lugia also transformed a legend of ice that was visiting from another region, but we are not sure at this time of what legend it is, or what region it hails from. I bring this up because I see that one among you has been touched and transformed by the shadows of that Lugia as well." Chase looks up at Suicune, "Is there any way that I can be helped to release the shadows grip on me?" Raikou responds, "Unfortunately the power used to seal your true self away is beyond our ability to cure...I am sorry for this news." Chase hangs his head down, "I see, I will continue my search then with this groups help."

Entei speaks again, "Now then, now that you know of this regions plight, it is time to tell you of how we are able to help. Much like the Kantonian Bird Trio, we will also give you training, but this is going to be different." Raikou speaks, "You must be able to catch lightning, so to speak. We will head off to different areas of Johto, and you must find us to earn our training." Suicune expands on Raikou's words, "Use the whispers as your guide to find us, We will be waiting for your arrival young one." Charonus looks at the trio, "Wait, how will I know where you are if I do find the area?" The trio responds all together, "Look for our elements, they will be your guide." Entei speaks, "Good luck Charonus, please hurry and find us. We don't know how long Ho-oh can hold out against Shadow Lugia." As Entei finishes speaking, the trio leaps out of the Burned Tower and runs off to their training grounds.

The group looks at eachother as they head out of the tower, "Looks like things are pretty bad here as well...I don't like this." Cynder says to the group. Draco responds, "Shadows again..." Charonus looks at Chase from atop his back and wonders to himself, " _Could it be, could Chase be this ice legend that the trio spoke of?_ " The group comes out of the tower and sees a peculiar stream of lightning coming from the direction of Violet City.

" _Violet thunder strikes within reach, what will it have to teach?_ " Those words ring through the groups minds as they set forth on the next part of their journey.


	4. Chapter 4

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 4: Training with Violet Lightning**

A bolt of lightning is seen and a crash of thunder is heard from residents in nearby Violet City. A small green bird Pokemon looks up from the underbrush, "Thunder and lightning strike within reach, soon the sacred beast will begin to teach." The small Pokemon heads deeper into the underbrush.

Charonus and the group, head on their way towards where they see the lightning strike. Draco looks back at the group, "That looks like it's coming from the direction of Violet City. Is that where Raikou is at?" Cynder responds, "It looks like it, and if the whispers are right, that is where he will be waiting." As the group gets closer to Violet City, they feel a strange, yet gentle electricity in the air, as if the surrounding area is charged and waiting to just unleash its exitement. The many Pokemon around the area scurry around quite quickly, able to feel this charge in the air. The group of Rattata and Pidgey seen earlier scurries by. "The beasts must be getting ready to train someone, this electric atmosphere is sure emboldening huh?" Another of the group responds, "Yeah, I guess that group made it." The Pokemon leave the sight of the group as the group heads by and enters into the city.

Charonus looks around, canvasing the area. "Where would Raikou be? He's gotta be around here somewhere." Chase looks around as well, "I don't know...he could be anywhere really." Cynder thinks for a moment to herself, " _Another test for the young one, and this air...I think it may be a distraction. He must stay calm, even in this charged air._ " She looks at Bowser and Draco, who also have seemed to fall under Raikou's spell. "Make sure to not get carried away you guys. Try to keep calm and collected." Charonus thinks for a moment and realizes that Cynder may be onto something, as the air itself is making Pokemon in the area hyper and is probably making them hyper as well. Charonus closes his eyes and focuses on his core, trying to look for a way to search out his new teacher. As Charonus collects himself, he catches a faint aura, "I think it is this way." Charonus leads the group towards a wooded area of Route 32, just south of Violet City. "I think Raikou is through here," Charonus says. The group walks a little further and finally spots the Sacred Beast. Raikou smiles, "I congratulate you young one. You managed to see through my test to reach me here. The trial of Bravery begins soon." Charonus looks at Raikou, "The charged air filled me with exitement. I almost lost sight of my balance for a moment." Raikou simply nods and prepares for the next phase.

"Now then, for the first part of your training, something needs to be done about that excess charge that is built up within you. In this training I will teach you a way to do just that, but you won't be able to use your dream form to do this." Charonus looks at Raikou with a puzzled look on his face, "Huh? Why not? All of my other training has used that form so far." Raikou nods, then speaks again, "Yes, but you said yourself that this charged air fills you with exitement. That exitement heightens the aspect of Bravery, which in turn makes it near impossible to bring the dream self to reality." Charonus looks into Raikou's eyes and sees that he's telling the truth, "I see...I guess that is the training that will be conducted by the other two as well." Raikou smiles, "Indeed young Charmander. Now I will instruct you on the use of Discharge. This ability helps purge oneself of excess electrical charge and direct it outwards in all directions. It also purges the air around the user of the excess electricity." Raikou prepares himself and demonstrates the ability for Charonus and his friends, "To use this ability properly, one must focus on the turmoil within themselves and calm it with tempered stillness, gathering it and forcing it outward untill it burst forth in a flaring electric sphere. My avian friend in Kanto should of taught you something similar to this, except in reverse." Charonus thinks back and remembers his training with Zapdos. He then remembers the move Charge. Raikou speaks again, "You will only have about a weeks time with me, then I must try and aid Ho-oh, please do all you can and if you can't learn my training in time, I hope that you will continue without my tutilage." Charonus nods.

Over the next two days, Charonus diligently trains to purge the excess electric charge built up within him. He focuses on the turmoil that has built up inside of himself. As he focuses inward more, his dreamself starts to take shape from him unknowingly. This release surprises Raikou, but he doesn't interfere with it. Once the form fully materializes and the process takes hold once more, a blinding flare of electrical light is released from the dreamform. Charonus opens his eyes while in the dreamform body and looks around, "Was that acceptable Raikou?" Raikou looks upon Charonus' dreamform, then nods, "Quite remarkable, not only did you successfully use Discharge, but you also managed to get into your dreamform. Others that I have taught this to have never had this much success." Charonus looks around for a moment, spotting his real world body at his feet in a resting position, "I was completely unaware of doing this. I just focused inward and it just happened." Raikou nods, "I believe then that you are ready for the next part of my training." Over the next few days, Raikou prepares Charonus for the training, and on the final day of the training week Raikou motions for Charonus to enter his Dreamform once more.

Raikou stands across from Charonus and takes a defensive stance. Charonus looks at Raikou with a puzzled look on his face, "What is going on Raikou?" Raikou simply stares at Charonus for a moment, then speaks, "A battle of bravery young one. Face me and learn my ways. As we battle, you must observe my movements, for within will be your next ability." Charonus looks back at his friends, who are just as puzzled, and a little worried for their friend. Cynder looks at the sleeping Charmander next to his dreamform self, "Shouldn't we move him first, so he doesn't get caught up in this training?" Raikou nods at Cynder's words and lets Bowser move the Charmander frame to a safe place. "Now then Charonus, come at me with all you have. I will be holding nothing back. Let's see if you can truly catch lightning!" With that, Raikou rushes at blinding speed towards Charonus. Charonus has barely enough time to evade as Raikou rushes past. " _Wow, he's fast. How do I keep up with that kind of speed, let alone fight him?_ " Charonus wonders to himself. Raikou passes by again with Charonus narrowly dodging in time once more. As Charonus turns around to try and get a sight of Raikou again, he suddenly feels a static like shock from his shoulder, bringing him down to his knees. "H-huh...how did this happen?!" Charonus checks his shoulder, feeling a shallow gash as if from a bite. "How did he..." Charonus has little time to wonder as Raikou comes at him again.

Bowser, Cynder and Draco look on in worry as Charonus tries as he might to stay out of Raikou's attacks, but it becomes apparent that glancing hits are beginning to wear down the their friends stamina. "Charonus, concentrate. Don't let this overwhelm you!" Cynder yells out. Bowser gives some words of encouragement as well, "Steel your resolve Charonus. Hold on and wait for the chance to strike." Draco gives some of his words of inspiration as well, "Feel it out, see what can't be seen, use your other senses." Chase nods and speaks, "I know you can do this." Charonus hears all of their words and he closes his eyes, sensing Raikou's energy. Raikou once again comes in on Charonus while attempting another Thunder Fang. Charonus spins to his side with quite the speed that it leaves Raikou in a little bit of a spin. Raikou smiles as he recovers from his spinout.

Raikou squares up against Charonus once again, "Looks like you have seen through my speed, very good, but are you able to catch this bolt of lightning?" Charonus waits for Raikou's next move. Raikou smiles again as he seems to vanish, attacking again. Charonus holds up his claws and a force seems to run into his outstretched paw, pushing the Charizard dreambody back. Charonus concentrates and scans around while keeping his eyes closed, as if he's listening for something. A crash of thunder is heard as Raikou attacks again, knocking Charonus back again. This happens for several more turns, eventually coming to a conclusion when Charonus slashes towards Raikou and manages to land a solid hit with his claws on the Sacred Beast's side, knocking Raikou down. "Impressive, you managed to catch me, but one thing remains, have you learned the move I have been trying on you?"

Charonus simply smiles, and with the same speed that Raikou has been displaying, he lands a solid hit on Raikou with Thunder Fang, sending the Sacred Beast reeling from it's power. Raikou tries to stand, but he feels that his muscles have locked up, surprising him. Charonus walks over to his real world body and plucks a Paralyze Heal from his bag and uses it on Raikou. Raikou looks at Charonus and smiles, "Wonderfully done, you learn quick. Not only did you match my speed, but you also have the strength and knowledge to know where to hit. Your balance is impeccable. You also showed restraint as well. That could of been a lethal hit if you weren't in balance." Charonus nods, "I was well aware of what to do, I was also aware that things could of gone wrong if I didn't have balance." Raikou stands and nods to Charonus and the group, "My brothers will be waiting for you, but as for me, I must aid Ho-oh and help hold off the advance of darkness that threatens Johto." The group bows to Raikou, and befor they rise back up, he is gone like a bolt.

Charonus returns to his waking body and wonders where do they go from here when he suddenly remembers the next whisper, " _Tread lightly within the land and learn from the frosted sand._ " As Charonus wonders what that means, the group hears another strange pair of whispers in their heads. " _From a place reminiscent of the pillar of spears, in the Ruins of Alph the Gods of Creation are said to appear. A valley to the south will feel like home, for it is where other 'Zards roam."_ Charonus looks at the group, wondering what this could all mean. The group looks back, just as puzzled as he is. The group talks with amongst eachother and makes their plans before heading out once again on their journey.


	5. Chapter 5

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 5: Where Gods Dwell and a Strange Spell**

Heading south from Raikou's training ground, the group continues to converse about what transpired. Chase seems to have his head in the clouds, as if still starstruck by being close to one of the Sacred Beasts. Charonus looks back from atop Bowser's shell and wonders what Chase could be thinking. "Chase? Are you alright?" Charonus questions his new friend.

Chase snaps back to reality, "Y-yeah, just thinking of how cool it was that you faced off against a Sacred Beast."

Charonus sighs, "It is for training Chase, to help the balance inside me. There is turmoil within my core...a dark power that I must temper with the light everyone is giving me."

Chase nods, "I understand, but it's still cool reguardless." Charonus faceclaws some, wondering if Chase needs some balancing as well. As Charonus wonders this, he feels his friends stop moving.

Draco, Bowser and Cynder see a strange sight before them. What appears to be a letter of the alphabet floats by, the letter C. Bowser taps Charonus' shoulder, "Um, Charonus, I think you should see this. What looks like the letter 'C' is floating in front of us."

Charonus turns around and looks, spotting the strange Pokemon in front of him. "Now that's something you don't see every day." Chase looks around Bowser to see what everyone is looking at, seeing the strange sight. As the group focuses on the Pokemon, more come from the path to the right of them at this point on the route. Next a Hcan be seen, followed by the letters A,R,O,N,U,and S.

Charonus looks at this with curiosity, "Um...why does it look like they are spelling my name?" The others look just as puzzled as Charonus is, even shrugging their shoulders. The Pokemon look directly at Charonus as more of the strange letter Pokemon come from the path. The group decides to investigate this further.

The group heads towards the path, guided by the mysterious alphabet Pokemon. Eventually the group spots a set of ruins as whispers once again ring through their heads. " _From a place reminiscent of the pillar of spears, in the Ruins of Alph the Gods of Creation are said to appear._ " As the group nears the ruins, more and more of the strange Pokemon show up.

"What are these anyway?" wonders Charonus. Several of the Pokemon gather together to spell something. 'UNOWN' Charonus looks at this in puzzlement, "Unown? Is that what these Pokemon are?"

Draco looks at this as well, "I guess so. I have never seen these kind of Pokemon before, such strange things they are."

Cynder looks at Draco, "I have to agree with you, and I wonder why they led us to these ruins" The group continues, eventually finding an entrance into the ruins. The Unown continue to follow as they make their way deeper and deeper into the ruins, eventually coming to a strange altar surrounded by what looks like 4 different Pokemon shaped statues.

Bowser stares at the statues for a moment and notices something, "Hey guys, don't you recognize two of the statues that are there?"

Cynder takes a closer look at the two statues that Bowser motions to, "Wait, can it be? Dialga and Palkia?"

Draco, surprised by this as well, watches as the gems on the two statues light up when their names are spoken, "What the...did speaking their names activate something here?"

The Unown swirl around and spell out another pair of names 'GIRATINA, ARCEUS'

Charonus looks at the pair of names, "Giratina? Arceus? Are those the names of the other two Pokemon statues here?" As soon as Charonus finishes that sentence, a glowing portal appears between the four statues. The group is shocked by this and wonders what to do next.

"Dialga and Palkia did send us to help you. I wonder if this place could be a connection to them," Cynder says.

Draco wonders to himself for a moment, then notices Chase get closer to the portal, "Hey Chase, don't get too..." Before Draco can finish, Chase gets pulled into the portal and dissapears. Charonus jumps from Bowser's shell and leaps inside. The group stands there for a moment, before following, hoping that their two friends are alright.

On the other side of the portal, Draco, Cynder and Bowser spot a simple looking ruin within a snowy cliffside, they scan the area but can't seem to find Chase or Charonus.

"Chase? Charonus? Where are you two?" Cynder calls out to her friends.

"You don't suppose that they went into the ruins do you?" questions Draco, showing a little apprehension.

"It's possible. We should hurry inside to see if they are alright." says Bowser. Cynder nods and starts to head towards the ruins, followed behind by Bowser and Draco.

Inside the ruins, Chase and Charonus look around at the strange designs on the floor. "What a strange room, why were we even led here?" Charonus says aloud.

Chase looks around, "I feel like we're being watched, but it's strange, the presence feels familiar to me."

Draco, Bowser and Cynder enter the ruins and spot the pair.

"There you are, you two shouldn't of run off like that, it gave us quite the scare." Cynder says.

Draco looks around and spots the designs on the ground, "Hmmm...what are these designs. It looks kinda like a puzzle in a way."

Cynder looks down and sees the designs as well, "Hmmm, you're right Draco, it looks kinda like those puzzles where people stand in the circles that represent things.

Charonus wanders around a bit and happens to step on the circle in the center of the strange pattern, and as he does the circle lights up. "Whoa, what is going on here?!"

Unown suddenly flood into the enclosed space, some aligning themselves around the three outer circles and spelling some things. At the lower left corcle, the Unown spell out the words Dialga and Knowledge, at the lower right the Unown spell out Palkia and Bravery, and at the top they spell out Giratina and Strength. Charonus stands there, not sure of what to do next, when more Unown show up over his head spelling out the words Arceus and Balance.

"I don't really know what is going on here. This is too strange," says Charonus.

Cynder takes a look and a thought comes to her, "It is a puzzle, the three attributes need to be in balance. Strength, Knowledge, and Bravery converge to form balance, but how do we solve this completely?"

Bowser has a thought come to his mind at this point, "Hey Cynder, call it a hunch, but I think that we are the key. I think of myself as strong, so I think I should stand in Giratina's spot." As Bowser says this, he walks over to the Circle of Strength and stands in it. As if reacting to Bowser's presence, the circle lights up with a reddish light.

"You may be on to something Bowser. We have each added an aspect of ourselves into Charonus' balance. As you said, you seem to take on the role of Strength, where as I take the role of Knowledge, and I believe that Draco best suits Bravery." Cynder walks over to the Circle of Knowledge and it lights up with a bluish light.

Draco looks at his friends and walks over to the Circle of Bravery. "I sure hope you're right about this Cynder, but even so, what is supposed to happen after this? What does this activate?" Draco gets his answer quickly as he steps into his circle and it lights up in a greenish hue. Suddenly the ruins seem to shake, and a projection is displayed forth from the combined glows onto the ceiling. On the ceiling the group sees a strange place, but one Charonus recognises from his dreams.

"Another place from my dreams, but how?" Charonus says aloud. After Charonus says this, they hear a booming voice within the chamber, seemingly coming from the projection.

"We see that you have arrived safely. Welcome to the Mystri Stage within the Sinjo Ruins." The group looks around at the projection to see if anyone is there.

"Who's there, and why were we lead here?" questions Cynder. Two Pokemon appear within the projection suddenly. Draco, Cynder and Bowser instantly recognize them.

"Dialga, Palkia!" Draco says aloud.

Charonus looks up at the pair of Pokemon, "Huh? Are these two the ones who brought you to my world?"

Palkia looks down at the Charmander, "Indeed young Charmander, as for why you were brought here, you can call it a checkup. We wanted to see how you were faring."

Dialga speaks up, "We have heard good things coming from Kanto, how Shadow Mewtwo has been vanquished thanks to a certain group, that we no doubt believe is your group."

"Yes, but I still feel that I have a long way to go...and there seems to be trouble in Johto that we need to deal with."

Another Pokemon comes from behind the pair, a white, quadrapedal Pokemon with a split golden ring around it's midsection. It speaks to the group, "Indeed, I know of the darkness you speak of Charonus, but this meeting shall only take a moment. Let me introduce myself, I am Arceus."

Chase looks up at the Alpha Pokemon and wonders to himself, " _Can this Pokemon help in my plight where the sacred beasts could not?_ "

Arceus takes note of the Houndoom that is staring at him, and sees the darkness that has warped his form, he then turns to Charonus and the rest of the group. "I see you have taken on another with imbalance." Charonus nods as Chase looks down.

Chase speaks up some, "Is it possible that you could help me, this is not the true me."

Arceus sighs, "I can help, but unfortunately not from where you currently are. You must come to the Spear Pillar in Sinnoh, but first I forsee that your travels will take you to Hoenn first after your training in Johto is met. As for the training that you have already done, we have taken notice to the strengthening of your core Charonus, and we are pleased. Keep balance within you at all times in your travels, and before you go, we have some gifts for your group."

Charonus wonders for a moment to himself, " _Huh? Is that all they wanted? Just to peer into my core and then send us on our way._ "

Arceus sees the questioning on Charonus' face, "We shall meet again, your travels are preordained to bring you to us. We shall leave you now, and as you exit these ruins, you will be placed at an area nearby."

The group ponders this, then suddenly a whisper rings out in their minds once again, " _A valley to the south will feel like home, for it is where other 'Zards roam_." As the whisper subsides, three floating orbs appear before Draco, Cynder and Bowser. Arceus talks again, "Those orbs shall be proof of the chosen ones, and the way to Spear Pillar shall open upon Mount Coronet to you. I bid you safe travels." With that, the projection disappears. The group looks at eachother as they hold the orbs.

"So now what?" asks Bowser.

"I guess we continue on our journey. Things have certainly been strange for us though." says Draco.

Charonus hops off the platform, "I guess we should head out from these ruins then."

The group agrees and heads to the exit, as they exit the ruins, a blinding flash surrounds them. When the flash subsides they find themselves at the entrance to a strange valley. At the other end from the entrance the group sees a great bust of a Charizard carved into the rock face there. The group looks at eachother in amazement at this sight a bit before they hear a voice from behind them. "Well, what do we have here. Another group come to visit the Chariciffic Valley? And what a strange group at that."


	6. Chapter 6

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 6: Charizard Rumble in the Valley**

"It's not every day that you see Pokemon that wear human clothing." The group turns to see who is talking, spotting a green haired girl with a Charizard standing next to her that has a bow upon its head. "Hi there, Im Liza, and the Charizard next to me is Charla. Welcome to the Chariciffic Valley, a place where wild Charizard come to train themselves."

Charonus looks at both Liza and Charla, unsure of how to respond to what was said. Charla locks eyes with the small Charmander and sees something in his face that makes her quite curious about him. Charla then questions Charonus, "May I ask you your name young Charmander?"

Charonus thinks for a moment, caught off guard by the question, he then answers slowly, "M-my name is Charonus. Why do you ask Charla?"

Charla takes a moment to respond, "There is something about you that seems familiar to me, I just can't put my claw on it."

Liza watches the interaction between the two, "Charla, is something up with that Charmander?" Charla simply nods her head to Liza, "Hmmm, anyway, back to you four, especially the Charizard. What are your names?"

Draco, Bowser and Cynder introduce themselves, catching Liza off guard somewhat when they speak the humans language, Cynder also introduces Chase to her.

"So, I was right when I said that your group was quite interesting. Lets go into the valley and I'll show you around. We were just about to have a Trial of Balance between some of the strongest 'Zards within the valley, maybe you would like to test yourself as well Draco?"

Draco, unsure of how to respond to this holds back an answer until he sees the other Charizards in the valley.

As the group ventures into the Chariciffic Valley, they see Charizards of many different sizes. Some of the Charizards look at the group as they pass by and talk amongst themselves. "Now that is a Charizard you don't see every day," says one of the 'Zards as the group passes by.

"He looks strong, but yet untested," says another, seemingly able to sense something within Draco.

A third Charizard turns to the second one, "Yeah, but have you sensed the Charmander? He's got a deep power within him." The Charizards nod to eachother and continue conversing with eachother. Eventually the group arrives at what looks like a training ground. They also happen to see a Charizard they recognize.

Charla sees this 'Zard and smiles, "Father, what brings you out here today?"

The Charizard looks up to see who is coming, and spots Charla, Liza and the group, "Hey Charla, nice to see you here, and I see you have brought friends," He stops for a moment when he gets a closer look, "Charonus?! I didn't expect to see you here."

Charla looks over at Charonus, "Huh? do you know that Charmander, father?"

The Charizard nods, "Yes Charla, I do. He's Charonus, the one who saved Kanto. Not only that, but I believe you may have seen something about him if you looked deeply into his eyes."

Charla thinks for a moment, she then nods, "It's like I have seen him before somehow. He reminds me of my sister Charisa."

Charonus hears this name and something stirs inside of him, "C-Charisa? That name feels familiar to me, eventhough I have never heard it before."

The Charizard smiles, "Charisa is your mother's name my grandson."

Charla looks over at Charonus, "Wait, he's my nephew?" She goes over to Bowser and plucks Charonus off of his shoulder, she then holds the small Charmander next to her in the same kind of hug that Charonus' mother used to give him. Charla looks Charonus over and notices the pendant around his neck, eventually spotting the orange orb set within. Charla feels a wave of sadness come over her, "I-is that..." Charonus simply nods, then lowers his head.

The Charizard Caretaker looks at the other members of the group and asks Liza to take Charla and Charonus somewhere to get aquainted. "Now then, the reason I am here is to test the Charizards that are here in the power of balance. I do this every year, and it just so happens that the time has come again. So Draco, now that you are here, would you like to participate as well?"

Draco looks around unsure, seeing all the Charizards that are here. "I don't really know."

Bowser looks at his friend, "I think this would be a good test of skill for you buddy, you should try."

Cynder speaks as well, "Any balance that can be achieved is always welcome."

Chase adds his words, "You at least have to try."

Before Draco can even think of an answer, another Charizard comes from behind the group, "What, is the small one afraid of losing?" A rather imposing looking 'Zard stands in front of Draco, towering over him. "You don't look like you would be ready for this sort of trial."

The Caretaker simply sighs, then speaks up, "That is quite enough Zardius. Every year it seems to be the same thing. You keep letting your strength overwhelm your judgement. If you are not balanced, you will never pass. It's been what, three years now."

Zardius simply waves his hand at the caretaker, "Yeah, yeah gramps."

Some other 'Zards arrive shortly after and engage in discussions with eachother until the Caretaker quiets them down, "Now then, it's that time again when young Charizards are tested on their level of balance. Some of you will succeed, while others..." the Caretaker looks towards Zardius, "...will fail. In this trial you shall pair up with another Charizard and battle one another. In this trial it is not about winning or losing, it is about proving the balance within yourself. Now, let balance guide you to your true power within yourselves!"

The battles commence with 'Zards of every size and power giving their all. Draco, Cynder, Bowser, and Chase marvel at the battle display until the Caretaker calls for Draco to step up. "Draco, have you made up your mind yet about participating?"

Draco looks at the Caretaker and nods, "Seeing all of these 'Zards has stirred something within me. I will participate."

The Caretaker nods, "Then for your opponent, I will test you against Zardius. I think you should be able to show him what balance can do."

Zardius scoffs as he heads to the ring, "Great, pitting me against the runt? Just what are you trying to do gramps, give me an easy win?"

The Caretaker sighs, "I told you, it's not about winning or losing, it's about showing your balance, which is sorely lacking."

Zardius scoffs again, "Whatever gramps..."

Draco and Zardius square up on the training platform and stare down eachother. Zardius smiles, "It will be easy to take this fraidy 'Zard down, or you could just forefit."

Draco sighs and thinks to himself, " _This 'Zard truly has no balance...I feel like my balance is not perfect, but I'm learning just like Charonus is, but Zardius..._ "

Before Draco can finish his thought, Zardius closes in and takes a swipe at Draco with his claws in an open palm uppercut motion. Draco barely gets out of the way in time. "So, the 'Zard runt is able to get out of the way of my Upper Slash huh? We shall see how long this lasts."

Cynder looks on, a bit fearful for Draco, but she trusts that he can get through this. "You can do this Draco."

Bowser smiles, "You got this Draco!"

Zardius scoffs, "We shall see if this runt has what it takes. Now taste my flames!" Zardius rears back and unleashes a blue Flamethrower attack towards Draco. Draco manages to get out of the way of that attack as well.

Chase is shocked about the power Zardius displays, "Blue flames?! I have never heard of a fire type with that kind of power!"

Zardius looks towards the Houndoom, "Oh, you like that little doggie, then get a load of this." Zardius rears back again and unleashes a blue Fireblast, which Draco gets out of the way of again, "Grrr, stand still you runt!"

Draco stares down Zardius, "The Caretaker is right, you have no balance. Your power clouds your judgement and makes it easy to avoid your moves."

Zardius roars out, "Shut your mouth runt!" Zardius rushes in and strikes Draco hard with his tail. Draco stands there unmoving, taking the full force of the tail strike. Draco grimaces somewhat in pain, but he smiles through it.

Zardius looks at Draco, "Letting me hit you huh, but that hit should of sent you flying. What gives?"

The Caretaker looks at Zardius, "It's his own strength Zardius. Can't you see that strength is only one aspect of balance."

Zardius looks at the Caretaker, "Bah, whatever gramps. I'll prove my balance in my own way. Strength should be what a Charizard strives for."

The Caretaker sighs, "You have become too arrogant as a Charizard. I will let the battle continue and you will see by the end of it that what I say is correct."

Zardius looks back at Draco, "Well then runt, I have been going easy on you. Let me show you my full power." Zardius smiles as he backs up and readies himself for another one of his Fireblasts. Draco sensing this readies his own. "Alright runt, lets see you handle this one!" Zardius unleashes his Fireblast at Draco. Draco responding in kind unleashes his. As the two Fireblasts collide with one another, Draco seeing an opening, slips around the colliding fire and strikes Zardius into the air with a tailflip before slamming him into the Fireblasts with a powerful Wing Attack. The collision of Zardius and the Fireblasts causes a huge explosion that knocks the arrogant 'Zard into the air again before slamming down hard on the rock ground. Zardius lays there for a bit before weakly getting to his feet, "W-what power. How is this possible?! It's gotta be a fluke!"

The Caretaker looks at Zardius, "That is enough, this battle is over."

Zardius looks at the Caretaker, "What?! I can still go!" Zardius collapses to his knees, kneeling over and holding his midsection. "T-then again...alright...I concede..."

Draco looks at Zardius as he walks over to him. Draco holds out a paw to Zardius, "I think in time you can learn true balance within yourself."

Zardius looks up at Draco and takes his paw, "But all I ever have known is strength. Are you sure I can?"

Draco helps Zardius up, "Of course, but it will take time. It took a while for me to balance myself, which I am still trying to do."

The Caretaker nods, "And with that, the trial of balance has come to a conclusion. I will let the participants know shortly about who has passed."

That night the Charizards of the Chariciffic Valley and the group partake in an after trial feast of various roasted meats and fish. There is much conversing amongst the many 'Zards there.

Charonus and Charla sit near the group. Charonus looks at Draco, "So, I hear you had quite the battle earlier against a formidable Charizard."

Charla looks at her father, "I bet it was Zardius. Father has been looking for someone to humble him for a while now."

Draco looks at Charla, "Heh, it was Zardius. He did test me, but I managed to show him what balance can do."

Charla looks back at Draco, "Is that so. Zardius' pride is sure going to be sore."

Cynder speaks up, "I think this battle will change him for the better Charla."

As the group continues their discussion, the Caretaker takes a place upon the training ground, "Can I get the participants of the trials today up here with me? I have made my decision." The Caretaker waits for the participants to gather.

Zardius stands next to Draco and looks down at him, "I just wanted to say that you have shown me something today. I let strength get the best of me. I will try to better myself after what you have shown me here. Once I have tested myself, I hope to battle you again."

Draco responds, "That may be harder than you think, but I would like to think that we will meet again."

The Caretaker speaks up, "Out of all the participants today, I have concluded that one above all has shown the true power of balance that we all strive to achieve. This Charizard has shown that he has the heart, the mind and the body in perfect sync. I would expect no less of the one that helped to free Kanto from the clouds of darkness that covered the region not long ago."

Many Charizards look at the participants after hearing this, wondering what the caretaker is talking about.

The Caretaker speaks again, "Will Draco please step forward." The congregation of Charizards gasp, not realizing that he was the one the Caretaker spoke of. This revelation even takes Zardius time to process.

Draco steps forward and walks towards the Caretaker. The Caretaker smiles, "It is with honor that I present to you the symbol of the Trial of Balance." The Caretaker hands a small token that shows a peculiar design upon it to Draco. "Now everyone, please continue to enjoy yourselves tonight, and keep balance within yourself."

The group celebrates through the night with the rest of the 'Zards of the Chariciffic Valley, but in the back of their minds they know that their journey continues tomorrow. A whisper on the wind in the valley seems to call out to the group once again, " _Tread lightly within the land and learn from the frosted sand._ "


	7. Chapter 7

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 7: Frost on the Beaches of Cianwood**

Charla watches over Charonus as he continues to sleep in the early morning. She looks back down at the pendant that drapes over the young Charmanders neck and has a tear roll down her face once again. She reaches down and places a claw upon the pendant and closes her eyes, imagining a picture of her sister Charisa, in her mind.

"Sister...what happened to you? Why did this happen?" Charla keeps her eyes closed as she wonders if she will get an answer. In Charla's mind suddenly a picture of Charisa comes into view, "Sister? Is that you?"

The image of Charisa walks closer, stopping just in front of Charla and hugging her, "It's me Charla...it's good to see you again. As for your questions... I was used for something evil, my core ripped from my body and sealed within another being. I really don't want to go into more detail, but don't worry yourself. I am doing alright now being next to my son."

Charla looks up at her sisters face and lets some tears loose, "I'm really going to miss you sister..."

Charisa smiles, "A part of me will always remain with you Charla. Never forget the memories that you have of me."

Charla looks into Charisa's eyes, "I will never forget you sister." As Charla looks away for a moment, the vision slowly dissipates and Charla opens her eyes. "You will always remain in my heart sister."

Charonus slowly wakes and looks up at Charla, "H-huh? Did you say something auntie Charla?"

Charla looks down at Charonus, "Just saying goodbye to my sister..." One of Charla's tears lands on Charisa's core. the core shines for a moment in a warm light then fades to normal.

Draco, Cynder, Bowser, and Chase watch this interaction from afar before coming closer. Draco looks at Charonus, "I know you may want to stay, now knowing you have family here, but it is about time to get going to Cianwood."

Charonus looks at Draco and smiles, "I know Draco, gotta meet up with the next Sacred Beast for my next training."

Zardius and the Caretaker come over, hearing the little Charmander's words. Zardius looks at Charonus, "That may be hard. A dense fog has settled in around the area and it appears that those who enter wind up turned around and only wind up exiting the way they came in."

Charonus looks up at Zardius, "Must be another test of some kind. I had to deal with something similar over at Violet City when I was going to train with Raikou."

Zardius responds to Charonus, "I see, I wouldn't be any help with that, but I believe I can help getting you five there if you need it"

The group looks at eachother and comes to realize that Zardius may be right. Cynder responds to Zardius, "Yeah, that would be good considering that Bowser, Charonus and Chase can't fly, but are you alright with bearing one of them upon your back?"

Zardius smiles, "Sure Cynder, I'm the strongest Charizard in this valley. It would be no problem to get one of you over there."

Charla sighs, "Then I'm coming too...someone has to keep an eye on you so you don't get into any trouble."

Zardius sighs, "Charla..."

The group laughs at this exchange. Cynder smiles somewhat seeing that deep down there is a spark between Charla and Zardius that she keeps to herself.

Charla looks at Chase and Charonus, "I can also carry you guys over if you would like."

Charonus and Chase both nod at Charla and everyone prepare to leave the Charicific Valley and head out for Cianwood.

The group quickly gets done with their preparations and conveines at the entrance of the valley. The Caretaker and Liza stand there to see the group off.

"Please make sure to take the upmost care while you head out Zardius, and keep a good eye on him Charla." the Caretaker says, much to the annoyance of Zardius.

"Gramps, please, not in front of the group." Zardius says.

Charla smiles, "I'll make sure he doesn't get into any trouble dad."

Zardius sighs, knowing he can't win. He looks over towards Bowser and nods. "I will fly you over there while Charla will take care of Chase and Charonus."

Bowser looks at Zardius, "You may be big and strong, but are you sure you will be able to carry a Koopa while being able to fly? I am a little on the heavy side due to my stout shell."

Zardius smiles, "It will be a good test of my strength to try."

Bowser sighs, "Alright, I'm going to climb on and hope this works." Bowser walks over to Zardius and climbs upon the tall Charizard's back awkwardly, The group holds back a laugh at this sight, but eventually Bowser manages to seat himself upon Zardius' back.

Zardius grimaces a little from the weight of Bowser, but powers through, "Well, now lets get into the air, shall we." Bowser nods and feels Zardius lift up off the ground slowly, "Hope you hold on tight Bowser, it's going to be one heck of a ride to Cianwood from here."

Charonus and Chase climb up onto Charla's back and soon the whole group is airborne. Charla looks at Zardius "If things get too hard Zardius, don't be ashamed to ask for a rest." Zardius simply nods.

Liza looks up at the pair, "Y'all get back soon Zardius and Charla." The Charizard pair nod back to Liza and the group heads off in the direction of Cianwood.

En route to Cianwood the group converses with eachother, "So, where did you hear about this fog Zardius?" asks Cynder.

Zardius looks at Cynder, "Some other 'Zards have been in the area when the fog appeared out of nowhere and were talking about it last night. Apparently it blankets a pretty large area of Cianwood's beach area. The fog itself, from what the others said seems to have strange crystal dust inside it, which is quite odd."

Cynder thinks for a moment, "Crystal dust, it might refract light in a way that disorients any who enter, and that is why they find themselves exiting again. Just like the test with Raikou and bravery, looks like Suicune will be testing Charonus' knowledge and seeing if he can get through this fog to the training ground set within."

Charla speaks to Charonus while Cynder and Zardius continue their own conversation, "So, why are you on this quest nephew?"

Charonus sighs a bit, "It's a long story...but I really don't want to see what happened to my parents happen to any other Pokemon..." Charonus looks down at his pendant, "My parents were used by another to commit atrocities in Kanto, and that to me is unforgivable, and I hear the same thing may play out here in Johto...I am on this quest to help out Pokemon and human alike and to bring balance to the chaos."

Charla nods somewhat, "Sounds like a really hard task, but I believe you can do it, given time. My own sister was one who believed in balance as well, both her and your father Charzen."

Zardius looks over at Charla, stopping his conversation with Cynder, He then sighs a bit, "I miss my brother...he was always the better 'Zard between him and myself. I just never wanted to admit it until now. You keep that core of his close Charonus."

Draco looks over at Zardius, "Is that why you turned so arrogent?"

Zardius sighs, "Yeah...I always looked up to Charzen, but I thought I could do things my own way. He kept getting further and further ahead of me and once he got the statue of himself back at the Charizard Shrine in Kanto, that was the last straw for me and something snapped. It wasn't until you fought me that I saw clearly again. My strength overwhelmed my judgement in all things...made me too cocky as well..."

Charla smiles, "Zardius, this is a great first step to getting back on the path of balance. I'm proud of you."

Zardius smiles, "Thanks Charla."

Cynder looks ahead and sees a small town coming into view, and a fog bank close by as well. "That must be Cianwood. It would be best to land outside of the fog bank so we don't get lost prematurely." Cynder manages to spot a small part of beach just outside the fog bank where the group can land. She directs the group there and the group lands safely.

Bowser slowly gets down from Zardius' back, "Hope that wasn't too rough for you Zardius."

Zardius stretches his back a bit, "I'm a little sore, but I can manage. I'm just hoping the flight was alright."

Bowser smiles, "The flight was fine."

Charla looks at the group, "Well, Zardius and myself should get back to the valley. You take care my nephew, and remember us if you are ever in the area of the Chariciffic Valley again."

Charonus nods, "You take care too, safe travels Auntie Charla and Uncie Zardius."

Zardius blushes, "U-um...I don't know what to say to that one."

Charla laughs, "Well you are his uncle on his fathers' side." She continues to smile as Zardius and herself take off and fly into the distance.

Charonus smiles, "At least I know that I have family still around..." He lets a tear of happiness fall from his face.

Chase looks at the fog bank, a look of eagerness on his face, "I can't wait to meet Suicune again."

Cynder looks at the eager Houndoom, "Yes, but we need to approach this test with caution, lest we..." Cynder gets cut off as Chase suddenly bolts into the fog bank, his eagerness getting to be too much for him. Cynder yells out, "Wait Chase! Why does he let his eagerness get the best of him?" As Cynder yells out for Chase, he comes running back out of the fog bank.

Chase looks around, "H-huh, I'm back where I started. But I ran in a straight line, I know it."

Cynder looks down at Chase, "I told you that this is a test, and didn't you listen to what Zardius told us. If we are to make it through this, we need to have a level head."

Chase looks down, "Sorry Cynder..."

Charonus looks into the fog himself, seeing if anything looks off to him. He takes a moment and sends off a Fireblast to help him see more inside. The fireblast lights up the fog bank with an intense light, but it quickly dissapates. "Hmmm that seems quite odd. This is no ordinary fog. This is definately Suicunes doing."

Cynder looks back at the fog as Charonus sends the Fireblast into it, noting how the attack seems to bounce around inside, "That is interesting, the attack seems to ricochet inside, but why."

Charonus looks at Cynder, "Maybe it's the same thing that causes others that enter to get turned around, it bounces them back out."

Bowser sighs, "Then how do we get through?"

Draco looks at Bowser, "We must have balance, don't let this task get to us and we can get through it."

Charonus thinks for a moment, then closes his eyes, "There must be a way to find the path Suicune wants us to follow." Charonus walks towards the fog for a moment with his eyes still closed, as if feeling something in the sand. The feeling of the sand beneath his feet catches his attention at the edge of the fog bank. "Hey Cynder, could you come here for a moment?"

Cynder walks closer to Charonus, "What is it Charonus? Did you find something?"

Charonus bends down and opens his eyes, seeing nothing but sand beneath his feet, but he feels something is different about where his left paw is standing compared to his right. "Does the sand here look different to you by any chance?."

Cynder looks around, seeing nothing at first, but then she catches a glimpse of some shiny specks of something, illuminated by Charonus' tailflame that seems to be laying out a path that extends into the fog bank right under his left paw, "Now that you mention it, yeah I do. Hold out your tail over the area around your left paw."

Charonus does as Cynder instructs, and happens to see the path that Cynder has seen, "It looks like crystal snow mixed in with the normal sand. This must be the path to Suicune."

Draco smiles, "Nice find Cynder and Charonus. The snow must of been so subtle that it couldn't be found unless you really looked for it."

Charonus responds, "Yeah, I just felt it out once I was calm and balanced. Lets not keep Suicune waiting then. Draco, keep your tail flame brighter than normal, and keep your eyes on the path."

Draco nods and everyone heads into the fog, guided by Charonus and Draco.

Following the winding path through the fog that was set before them, the group manages to make it to a strange clearing within. Standing in the center of the clearing is Suicune with a smile upon his face. "You have arrived, as I knew you would."

Cynder smiles back towards the Sacred Beast, "This was an interesting fog that was laid out here. A fog capable of disorienting and bouncing out those who don't follow the subtle path."

Suicune responds, "Indeed, only those who are one with balance can make it through, and your group did wonderfully, albeit a little reckless and eager." Suicune looks toward Chase. "For one that seems to be in tune with the legendaries of the Pokeworld, you have a habit of letting your emotions get the best of you at times. I hope that with help you manage to regain your balance."

Chase lowers his head, "I understand...I will try to learn from my friends."

Suicune nods, "That is all I ask. Now as for my training, like my brother, Raikou, I will also instruct Charonus for a week in the use of two of my abilities. Charonus must demonstrate his mastery through combat with me. My training will be different, for he must be able to learn both techniques at the same time as he battles me within this dense crystal fog."

Charonus looks at Suicune, "I have always learned one at a time, this is going to be quite different for me..."

Cynder speaks to Charonus, "It is a true test of Knowledge. If you manage this, it would make training easier."

Suicune nods, "Indeed Cynder. Time is of the essence as well. I feel darkness on the horizon, and my brothers and myself are needed to help stem the flow. The sooner your training completes, the sooner that I can aid my brother Raikou."

Charonus nods as he prepares himself, concentrating and entering his dream Charizard form once more for another training session. Once Charonus is ready, he looks upon Suicune, seeing the Sacred Beast backing up into the crystal fog.

"The training begins. Keep calm and try to feel out where I am." Suicune disappears into the fog.

Charonus watches as Suicune disappears, suddenly he seems to get pushed back hard by some sort of force. Not missing a beat, he defends himself, but quickly comes to notice ice forming upon the strike point with his body. "This could be troublesome...maybe a higher vantage point is called for. I must keep myself out of strike range." Charonus leaps up into the air, but is suddenly met with a strange rainbow colored beam that knocks him back down. Charonus slides on the ground for a moment before getting back up, met once again with an attack, this time to his left wing, instantly freezing it and making flying impossible. "Suicune isn't going easy on me...if I don't calm myself I'll soon be a frozen 'Zardsickle."

The group watches on as the training unfolds. Bowser turns to the others, "Man, things don't look too good, and it's only day one of training."

Cynder, keeping her eyes on Charonus, "Yeah, but this is the way the Sacred Beasts train. To train ones balance in the heat of battle is the ultimate test."

Draco responds to Cynder, "I just hope that Charonus can see through the fog soon to hopefully strike Suicune and learn the techs that Suicune is showing him."

Chase simply nods, unable to take his eyes away from the training session. He thinks to himself in his mind, " _I know you can do this._ "

Charonus calms himself down and takes another look around, "Sight seems to be useless here as Suicune blends in perfectly, but there may be another way."

Suicune keeps an eye on Charonus. He watches closely as the Dream Charizard before him closes his eyes and waits, almost motionless. " _So, Charonus is trying a new tactic. Lets see if this manages to aid him._ " Suicune launches another attack towards Charonus, another rainbow beam, followed up by another rush attack towards the Charizard.

Charonus listens to the quiet that surrounds him, trying to hear for the slightest sound. He manages to pick up on a faint crystal chime in the air, followed by what sounds like snow hitting the sand behind him. Charonus smiles as he slightly moves to the side, then swiftly attacks with Thunder Fang, managing to strike something.

Suicune grimaces a bit as he takes the solid Thunder Fang to his side, but notices something else. " _So, the Charizard is quick to learn. No doubt using what he learned from Articuno. I better step up the training then._ " The training continues late into the day, eventually ending when Suicune reveals himself once again. "You have done quite well today. I have seen quite an improvement. Tomorrow I believe you will be ready for my final test. Rest well and prepare."

Charonus sighs a bit as the group prepares camp. Charonus decides to try and stay in his dreamform, but eventually loses it as he falls completely asleep.

Two hours later, Suicune looks over at the Charmander and notices his aura gathering again while he sleeps. He keeps watch and sees it take shape into the Dream Charizard again. "You should be sleeping young one. Now is not the time for training."

The Charizard turns to face Suicune, a look of determination upon his face, "I shall complete the young ones training, if you would so allow. Time is of the essence."

Suicune looks upon the Charizard, noting the difference in his demeanor, "So, you must be his inner self, the Yin to his Yang. You are correct in saying that time is short, but I hope that you are balanced enough to take on his training."

The Charizard responds, "I will do my best. This training is as much for myself as it is my waking self." He gets into a battle stance, "I'm ready Master Suicune."

Suicune smiles as he prepares himself, blending in with the fog again, "Then let us begin Charonus' inner 'Zard."

The training rages on well through the morning. As the rest of the group wakes, they slowly look around as they hear the sounds of attacks.

"What is happening!?" Chase cries out.

Draco looks at his Houndoom friend, "I'm not sure. Sounds like heavy battling."

Cynder spots Charonus' inner 'Zard, "Why is Charonus up this early? And why does he seem more determined?"

Bowser looks down and notices Charonus still sleeping, not at all in the pose he usually takes when he trains, "Ummm...Cynder, Draco, Chase...I think this time it's different."

The group looks at Charonus and takes note, they then look back at the ensuing training session.

Charonus' inner 'Zard fires a rainbow colored beam from his maw and manages to strike something inside the fog. He then rushes in and bites down with an Ice Fang attack. Suicune drops from his fog concealment to the groups surprize. Suicune looks up at Charonus' inner self as he helps Suicune up, "Well done, that was quite the workout. I see a lot of promise from you, but as we trained I also saw the darkness that you try to balance inside...it sometimes flared up from inside you and that worries me. If he saw this darkness, Shadow Lugia could use it to his advantage. Always try to keep this darkness balanced with your light. By the way, what should I call you?"

Charonus' inner self looks at Suicune puzzled, "I never even thought about it really..." He thinks for a moment, then an idea comes to his mind, "Ah, how about Charon. It will differentiate me from my waking self."

Suicune smiles, "Well then Charon, I hope to see you and Charonus again sometime, but for now I must get going. Give my reguards to the young Charmander." Suicune bows to the group and dissapears into the fog, as he does the fog dissapates with him.

Charon looks at the group and slowly dissapears back into his waking self, bowing to the group. Several moments later Charonus wakes up feeling refreshed. Charonus looks around and notices the fog is gone, "Huh? Where is Suicune? I thought our training session was going to start."

Cynder smiles, "The training is done. Look within yourself to see it."

Charonus looks at himself, "Huh? Did I sleep train or something?"

Draco laughs, "You could say that."

The group gathers themselves and prepares to leave. Once more a whisper on the wind seems to direct their actions onward. " _Beware the one of dark silvered wings, lest ye be put under its control. Free the one of light silver, and let balance regain its flow._ "


	8. Chapter 8

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 8: The Radiant Power of Seven Colored Wings**

In the skies above the Tin Tower of Ecruteak City, Ho-oh surveys the area. He takes note of the crystal snow above Cianwood subsiding and eventually disappearing. "That is two down, only one more training session to go for the young Charmander. I hope the young one and his group hurries, for I fear that the darkness is closer than initially thought." Ho-oh takes a look towards Blackthorne City and hopes that Charonus and his group reach Entei soon before Shadow Lugia can find out what they are planning. He also hopes that somehow his friend Lugia manages to break loose from his confinement in his home at the Whirl Islands. "I may have to step into battle here if things take a turn. The darkness is gathering quickly."

At his home upon Citadark Isle, within the Orre Region, Shadow Lugia keeps a close eye on the events within Johto. "Events have been moving quite strangely lately. What does Ho-oh know, and why does it look like a strange group is running arond like a group of Combusken with their heads cut off?." As he ponders these questions, Shadow Lugia looks upon the Pokecore he found atop Mount Silver, "Maybe it has something to do with this shadow beings core and the ones who destroyed its body. I won't be making the same mistakes as this one did." He rolls the Pokecore around in his hand like wing before lifting it to his face. "Let us continue what you started and cover the Johto region in darkness." He swallows the Pokecore and a flash of shadow energy surrounds his form. "The darkness will consume the light, starting with that phoenix, Ho-oh!"

Ho-oh lifts his head in the direction of the north-west, feeling something ill on the wind from that direction. "We may be out of time...Suicune, Raikou, to me now!'

The two Sacred Beasts appear at the base of the Tin Tower as Ho-oh lands atop. Suicune and Raikou leap up the side of the building to meet with the Rainbow Pokemon.

"Lord Ho-oh, why have you summoned us so quickly?" questions Suicune.

Ho-oh looks to the north-west again, "I feel like we may have run out of time, and that I may be needed to fight the oncoming darkness to buy the Charmander and his group time to meet with Entei."

Raikou lowers his head, "Are you sure about this Lord Ho-oh, you have said yourself that you are unsure if you can beat this darkness yourself."

Ho-oh sighs a little, "I am aware Raikou. You two must lend me your power and hopefully we will be able to push back this darkness that I feel, with or without the full power of Entei by our side."

Suicune and Raikou solemnly nod at Ho-oh's words, understanding that they may be thouroughly outmatched, knowing full well how the Orre Region fell to the Shadowbeast with it's power alone. But now in possesion of Shadow Mewtwo's core there is no telling how much shadow energy he has.

Ho-oh looks down at the pair of Sacred Beasts, "If things get bad, I may have to use the move that I don't really want to."

Suicune and Raikou gasp. Suicune speaks up, "But Lord Ho-oh, if you do that, it will compromise our protection of the region. Please stay strong and don't act so reckless."

Raikou speaks up as well, "Without Lugia freed, darkness will have free reign over the area."

Ho-oh nods at the pair's concerns, "I will only use it as a last resort, and hopefully damage Shadow Lugia enough to buy our side time."

Suicune and Raikou nod and calm their concerns, preparing to give their energy to Ho-oh.

Revelling in his new power gained from Shadow Mewtwo's core, Shadow Lugia lifts off from his home and begins the journey towards Johto. "Heh, the power that this other shadowbeing had is quite impressive." Shadow Lugia continues on his way, and about halfway to his destination he feels something big pass through the barrier he set over the Whirl Islands. "Hmmm, something bigger than the normal riff-raff has passed the barrier. Well it doesn't concern me, they are now trapped within just the same. For now I should set up the arena of Ho-oh's downfall." As Shadow Lugia gets closer to his destination, he clasps his wings together and creates an energy sphere in between them. He then sends this sphere into the sky and watches as it darkens. "With this, his strength, and those that help him will be sapped while I will grow stronger. Your day has come my rainbow friend!"

Ho-oh looks skyward from atop the Tin Tower, seeing the skies progressively get darker. "Looks like it has begun. Suicune and Raikou, please try to buy me time to complete my preparations."

The two Sacred Beasts bow to Ho-oh, then leap out to meet the oncoming storm running at high speeds. The pair eventually reach Route 40, south of Olivine City before spotting the shadow Pokemon in the distance. Raikou looks at Suicune, "We must stop, or at least slow Shadow Lugia down before he gets past here to Ho-oh. Make your attacks count."

Suicune frowns, feeling something is off in the air, "Something is wrong Raikou, the air is not normal. We may be limited in our attempt to slow him down."

Raikou sighs, "I feel it too Suicune, but we must try what we can."

Shadow Lugia spots the duo as he flies closer, "So, he has sent his favorite underlings to try and slow me down. I guess I shall have some fun before the main event." Shadow Lugia grins as he looks at the pair, casting his Shadow Hold on them. "There will be no running from this. Ho-oh has sentenced you to doom."

Raikou and Suicune both prepare themselves, their aura flaring out as they prepare their attacks. The pair take aim and attack first, Suicune unleashing his Aurora Beam, and Raikou attacking with Thunderbolt. The attacks intermingle with one another as they head for Shadow Lugia."

"So, a combo attack, but they waste their energy." Shadow Lugia grins as he lets the attacks strike him. The attacks quickly dissipate and Shadow Lugia appears to be unharmed from the paired assault.

"Wait, What happened?!" exclaims Raikou, seeing his attack shrugged off so easily.

"Don't lose your bravery Raikou, it's this sky. Shadow Lugia lured us in to this area covered by this sky that saps our strength."

"Indeed, my little friend," Shadow Lugia smiles a wicked grin. "You two are nothing to the power I hold, and soon your precious Ho-oh shall be nothing but dust as well. I am merciful though. You two can serve me in shadow, or be defeated as well."

The pair of Sacred Beasts look at eachother, then to Shadow Lugia. They speak in unison. "We will never serve you!. We will fight you till the bitter end!" They fire off their most powerful attacks, Ice Beam from Suicune and Thunder from Raikou, before leaping into the air towards Shadow Lugia and attacking with Ice Fang and Thunder Fang. The twin beams of elemental energy hit squarely upon Shadow Lugia, knocking him from the skies. They then latch onto Shadow Lugia with their fang attacks.

"We will do all we can to slow you down. You will not harm Master Ho-oh!" exclaims Suicune.

"Even if you do destroy us. We do this to preserve the balance!" yells Raikou through his clenched teeth.

"You two still don't seem to get it. You will not stop me in my goal, for I am more cunning than you two. I have planned for years to enact this plan, and now I finally have the power to do so." As he talks to the Sacred beasts that are clamped onto his wings, he subconsciously creates a pair of shadow like blades behind them. "This charade is at an end, it is time to cut you down with my new Shadow Slash." Before Suicune and Raikou can react, they are slammed from behind by the Shadow Slash attack at their backs, causing them immense pain and making them release their hold on Shadow Lugia. They fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Now with them out of the way, Ho-oh will be next." Shadow Lugia smirks as he rises into the sky once more and heads to the Tin Tower.

Ho-oh senses that Suicune and Raikou have failed in slowing down Shadow Lugia's advance. "I am sorry my friends, but I am thankful for your efforts." Ho-oh waits for Shadow Lugia in the skies over the Tin Tower. He spots the shadow Pokemon in the distance and sighs, "I am prepared to give my life to stop him from taking over Johto with his shadow, but I hope it doesn't come to that..."

"Oh, but I hope it does." Shadow Lugia comes close enough to face off with Ho-oh. "I know your weakness for protecting these lands, but just like the Orre Region, Johto will fall to my shadows." The sky grows ever darker around Ho-oh and Shadow Lugia as the tension between the pair of legends grows.

Shadow Lugia rears back, a dark purple beam gathering at his maw, "Let's get your destruction under way then." He sets his sights on Ho-oh and fires his new Shadow Beam. Ho-oh quickly responds by raising up a Light Screen to try and ward off the attack, but the impact is so intense that the Light Screen shatters instantly, but not before dissipating the attack.

"Well, looks like you at least have some defense on your side." Shadow Lugia grins. "But I fear it won't save you from this." Shadow Lugia begins charging again, except this time his wings begin to glow as well as his maw. Over his left wing, a sinister, dark yellow aura gathers, pulsing with electricity. Upon his right wing, a frosty, dark blue aura gathers, and within his maw, an intense, dark red aura gathers. "Let's see you handle the elements Ho-oh. Your strength will be sapped by the Fires of Shadow, your bravery broken by the Bolts of Shadow, and your knowledge sealed by the Chill of Shadow. Now let the shadows consume you!" Shadow Lugia fires his combined attack.

Ho-oh, sensing the power of this attack, protects himself with several layers of Light Screens, while also unleashing his Sacred Fire attack to try and buy him time. "I'm sorry my Sacred Beasts, but the power that Shadow Lugia has will be the end of me...but not before I damage him as much as I can." Ho-oh's core burns brightly within his frame as he prepares his final attack and waits for the right time to use it. He also prepares his Endurance, hoping that a plan he set into motion before Shadow Lugia arrived works out.

Shadow Lugia draws some power from Shadow Mewtwo's core that resides inside him and draws it forth to a point on his chest. This stalemate is at it's end Ho-oh. Become one with the shadows!" As he says this, a powerful Shadow Blast erupts from Shadow Lugia's core and increases the power of his attacks significantly, slamming into the Rainbow Pokemon hard. As the smoke from the attacks clear, Shadow Lugia sees that Ho-oh still floats in the air, but major damage has been dealt to his enemy. "So, you managed to withstand that onslaught." Shadow Lugia draws closer, unaware that this is Ho-oh's plan. "I guess then I can end this up close then." Shadow Lugia lifts Ho-oh's head up to look into his eyes. "Welcome to your new home of oblivion. Any words before I send you there?"

Ho-oh smiles weakly, "Just one...bang..."

"Huh, bang?" Shadow Lugia curiously wonders what Ho-oh meant, but as he does, an intense heat engulfs his form as Ho-oh unleashes his pent up Burn Up attack in his face and quickly switching with a clever Substitute that was waiting for him within his tower. The attack deals quite a bit of damage to Shadow Lugia. As the dust settles, Shadow Lugia looks around and sees Ho-oh's Substitute, but believes it to be the genuine article. As he prepares to attack again, Shadow Lugia sees the substitute disipate into dust on the wind. "Destroying himself to damage me, how foolish. He just made it that much easier to take his precious Johto for my very own." Shadow Lugia begins to laugh at this as he recoveres from his wounds, but a mere moment later he is struck by an overwhelming gust of razor sharp wind in the form of an Aeroblast attack that has twice the power of a normal one, seemingly coming from the Whirl Islands.

"No...it can't be, that barrier was impenetrable from the inside, it couldn't have been shattered!" Shadow Lugia whirls around and sees a light pierce his Shadow Sky, clearing out the sky above Johto. As Shadow Lugia looks at this beam of light, a form becomes clear at the apex, that of Lugia, his light counterpart. The pair stare at eachother, the fate of Johto within each of their wings.


	9. Chapter 9

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 9: The Prisoner of Whirling Water**

Still standing upon the beach of Cianwood, Cynder looks over the map of the area. "So, now that we are done here, what is our next destination?"

Draco looks over the map with her, "We need to find the last Sacred Beast to help Charonus out."

Chase looks out over the horizon to the east, his mind wandering. He starts to remember more bits from his lost memories, and as he stares towards the north-east he suddenly jolts up. "Guys, I just remembered something." He reaches a paw down to his bone like collar and pulls a glistening silver feather from it. "I feel that our next destination should be Whirl Islands."

Charonus looks at Chase with curiosity, "Huh, why do you think we should go there Chase?"

Chase looks towards the direction of the Whirl Islands, "That is where my friend is said to reside, and where I found myself after being knocked out and changed. The only thing that reminded me of it is this feather I carry with me. It is a sort of key to meet my friend."

Cynder responds to Chase with some skepticism, "Are you absolutely sure about this friend of yours Chase?"

Chase perks up, "I am Cynder, please believe me."

Draco thinks for a moment, then speaks out, "I think that our Houndoom friend may be telling the truth guys. Now I may not be one for superstitious mumbo-jumbo, but those whispers we have heard have not steered us wrong yet."

Bowser looks up at Draco, then remembers the whispers himself. "I think you are onto something Draco. Remember what the whispers told us ' _Beware the one of dark silvered wings, lest ye be put under its control. Free the one of light silver, and let balance regain its flow._ ' I think those whispers are about Chase's friend and Shadow Lugia."

Charonus looks up at Bowser and Draco, "I believe things are coming to pass as those whispers state as well. Take Chase for example, he has been touched by Shadow Lugia's power. A form of control over him seals his true form and ability."

Cynder looks up from her map, "You know Charonus, I believe you're onto something. So we need to free the one of light silver to restore a semblance of balance. It may not bring back Chase's true form, but it may bring balance to the region, even for a little bit."

Chase sighs a little, "I just hope my friend is alright..."

The group, after reaching an agreement, begins to make their way towards the Whirl Islands, unbeknownst to them that dark shadows encroach closer to Johto.

The group comes to the edge of the beach and looks out over the water route. Bowser looks back at Chase and Charonus, "Looks like you two will be joining me for a little shell surfing."

Chase looks a little apprehensive, "I don't know about this..."

Charonus walks over to Chase, "It's quite fun Chase, trust me. We did this a lot over in Kanto when we needed to meet with Articuno back at my home at Seafoam Islands. It's quite fun."

Bowser smiles at this, enjoying the fact that Charonus had fun in those times.

Chase looks back at his Charmander friend, "I hope you're right. It looks like the only way we have, unless I awkwardly dog-paddle and slow you guys down."

Bowser laughs, "Come on Chase, climb aboard and we will be there before you know it."

Chase relents and waits until Bowser is in the water before climbing aboard the Koopa's shell. He is soon followed by Charonus who seats himself upon Bowser's head.

Draco smiles, "Cynder and I will fly overhead. Be careful getting them there Bowser."

Bowser smiles back, "Don't worry so much Draco. Everything will be fine."

The group makes quick headway towards the Whirl Islands, and about 25 minutes later reach their destination, but then run into the areas namesake problem and the barrier beyond it.

Cynder watches from up above, taking note of the many whirlpools that surround this small set of islands, "Now how do Bowser, Chase and Charonus get through that?"

Draco looks upon the whirlpools as well, "I don't really know Cynder. I hope Bowser can somehow see a souution."

Below the dragon pair, Bowser stares at the whirlpools before him. "So, this is why they are called the Whirl Islands. I wonder how to get past this. Any ideas you two?"

Chase shrugs, "I really can't think of anything...sorry Bowser."

Charonus looks upon the whirlpools in the way, "It would take some force of magic to get past this. Magic we don't have..."

Bowser thinks for a moment. Suddenly an idea springs into his head. "We may not have magic, but we do have an ability that I saw a Blastoise use. Remember your training with the clone Blastoise Charonus?"

Charonus shudders, "How can I not...I may have overcome that trial, but I am still afraid of water attacks."

Bowser smiles, "Well maybe you should close your eyes then, because I'm about to try out a water attack of my own." Bowser takes a look at the whirlpool in front of him again and takes note of it's rotation. He then begins to collect himself. "If thinking balanced thoughts can help Charonus, it should be able to help me out too...please my friends, guide me to balance." Bowser begins to draw up some water and spin it above his outsretched paw above his head, spinning in the opposite direction. He concentrates with all his might as the whirlpool above him gets bigger and bigger, and when he senses that it is big enough, he launches it to the center of the other whirlpool in front of him.

Cynder and Draco watch as this unfolds, seeing a side of Bowser that surprises them. They see a balanced Koopa that wants to help his friends by any means.

Cynder smiles, "That is quite interesting. Bowser looks quite focused."

Draco nods, "I have never seen him before like this either. Facing this task head on with controlled strength and knowledge. I guess Charonus must be rubbing off on him."

Cynder responds to Draco with a sweet kiss, "To you and myself as well Draco. We help him just as he helps us."

Draco blushes, "You're right Cynder, I was in balance when I sparred with Zardius not too long ago, and now Bowser is balanced to get his friends to these islands."

The pair watch as the whirlpools clash and cancel eachother out. Bowser quickly swims forward and eventually makes landfall on the biggest island there, passing into the barrier.

Cynder and Draco pass into the barrier and join with Bowser, Chase, and Charonus.

Chase goes back over to the barrier and touches it. It ripples slightly to his touch with shadow energy, but stays firm. "Looks like a one way trip..."

Cynder sighs, "Just like Mount Silver and Shadow Mewtwo. He placed a one way barrier over it, trapping a lot of Pokemon inside. He did this just to get to us, especially Charonus..."

Charonus sighs and looks down, just then the group hears a voice in their heads.

"I sense that the one from my dreams has arrived. The shadows will soon cover this land with their darkness unless I am set free. Unfortunately I do not have the power to free myself alone. I await the Charmander within my home, so I may train him and hopefully stem shadows flow into Johto."

Charonus looks around, "Huh, waiting for me?"

Chase looks at the Silver Wing in his posession again and sees that it is shining. He points it toward a cave entrance and it shines it's brightest. "I think we can go this way guys." Chase rushes off with the others following behind.

Draco yells out, "Hey Chase, wait up!"

Cynder sighs as she runs behind Draco, "His eagerness can be quite disruptive..."

Bowser runs behind Cynder and Draco with Charonus on his back, "Yeah...I know what you mean Cynder. That impulsiveness of his will harm him someday."

Chase follows the shine of the Silver Wing further into the cave structure of the islands until he reaches an area with a waterfall. He stops just in time to prevent himself from falling into the pool of water before him. The Silver Wing shines an immense light and parts the waterfall before him, slowly revealing a large avian Pokemon that has silver colored feathers covering most of its body and purple colored feathers that sprout from its back in rows along the sides of its spine. The avian Pokemon looks upon the Houndoom before him with a bit of curiosity until he spots the held Silver Wing.

"So, you are the one to help the Charmander to me, but what I want to know is how you aquired that Silver Wing of mine."

Chase looks at the Silver Wing, "This is my friends feather. I was coming to visit him here when things got bad on the outside..."

As the pair talks, the rest of the group shows up and sees this interesting sight.

Charonus looks up at the avian and wonders who this could be, "Could this be the source of the voice that we heard?"

Cynder takes a moment to catch her breath before looking at the avian before the group. She stands there impressed at the silver feathers, then remembers something from when they were at Ecruteak with the Sacred Beasts. "Hey guys...I think this might be Lugia."

Lugia's attention is carried away from Chase and towards the Charmander and Twilight Storm. He gazes down upon the small Charmander as if to peer into his very core. "I see that you have arrived...I have been waiting since I got the message from Mewtwo about your arrival, but that is where the trouble started. I have been in the dark about happenings outside this accursed barrier. It blocks my senses of anything outside its walls."

Charonus looks down, "Things are bad Lugia. We were told by the three Sacred beasts, Suicune, Raikou, and Entei that Shadow Lugia has done some horrible things...and worse yet he may be in the posession of a Pokecore that belongs to the evil that ravaged Kanto not too long ago."

Lugia sighs, "It is worse than I fear then...the balance has been tipped and is spiraling towards darkness it seems. First he seals me away, then he targets my friend...just to try and bring his own kind of balance that will never work. There can be no balance unless darkness and light are in equallibreum."

Charonus sighs, "I know that all too well, but what can we do being sealed here?"

Lugia looks down at Charonus, "We do what Moltres has done. I can see his power within you. I once had to quell and balance the powers of the three Kantonian birds, but I did it with help of those who were wise, brave and strong."

Cynder looks towards Lugia, remembering the way Moltres trained Charonus. "You mean Charonus will have to last through your very power."

Lugia nods to Cynder, "Indeed, but it will be a much tougher task. You must be ready Charonus to withstand my full power Aeroblast and learn the ability. I warn you though that my power exceeds that of the three Kantonian birds."

Charonus looks within himself, thinking that he may not be ready, but he knows that time is short. As he reflects inward, Charon appears to him. He gazes upon his inner 'Zard. "Huh, why do you look so confident?"

Charon looks at his waking self, "Who do you think completed your last trraining with Suicune?"

Charonus simply stares at Charon for a moment, then he realizes, "Wait, you came out through our aura?"

Charon nods, "And I am here to aid you in obtaining the balance needed to get through this task as well. As you have been learning, so have I, and I believe we may be able to share the dream 'Zard frame to train."

Charonus looks at this with skepticism, "I don't know...this may wind up bad if done incorrectly...but I do know we don't have that much time to ponder if it will work or not."

Charon places a paw upon Charonus, "I promise that if anything goes wrong, sever the connection and send me back to your waking body."

Charonus relents and goes along with Charon's plan, seating his waking body down and preparing himself for the training within and without.

The group back away to a safe distance.

Cynder looks on with a feeling of uncertainty, "Something seems off. I wonder if Charon will make an appearence, or if Charonus will."

Draco looks at Cynder confused, "What do you mean Cynder?"

Cynder looks back to Draco, "Remember that determination on Charonus' face when he trained in the early morning with Suicune? It felt like another side of him, almost dark side, but it wasn't evil. I think I overheard Suicune talking with this other side too. I think that it called itself Charon.

Bowser listens in, then speaks, "Wait, so that was Charonus' inner self doing the training?"

Cynder responds, "I think so Bowser."

Draco looks as Charonus finishes bringing his dream 'Zard form back out once again. "I hope he can keep himself balanced..."

Charonus stands up in his dream 'Zard form and opens his eyes. Instead of his normal pair of bright emerald eyes, it looks like his right one is the same emerald, while his left has taken on a deep ruby tone.

Lugia looks at this in curiosity. "Hmmm, this is different from what Mewtwo told me about. I can also see your determination burning within your left eye, and the reserved power within your right. I hope that the split I feel within you right now is truly balanced, for I worry that if your balance is off, Shadow Lugia will use it against you."

Charonus looks up at Lugia, "I am willing to do what I must to train in the art of balance."

Another voice slips from Charonus, the same deeper voice that the group heard with Suicune, "I am in agreement with my waking self. The yin and the yang need to be one and the same."

Lugia nods at this, "I see this shared resolve that you share. Prepare yourselves for my trial."

The combined dreambody of Charonus and Charon prepare themselves, combining their energy in pure balance and holding up a Light Screen to ward off Lugia's attack.

Lugia prepares himself as well, balancing his energies for his Aeroblast. "You must last ten minutes, just like the trial Moltres put you through."

Charonus and Charon nod and watch as Lugia unleashes his aeroblast directly at them. They hold off the attack, getting pushed back bit by bit from the sheer power of the razorwind vortex, but never relenting to it.

The group watches the training, their eyes transfixed upon Charonus.

Cynder speaks to Draco, Chase and Bowser, having to speak quite loudly to overcome the deafening wind, "I hope Charonus knows what he is doing. True balance is hard to hold onto, and I don't think that he's quite ready yet."

Draco frowns, "I feel the same way Cynder...but we must believe in him that he can pull through."

Bowser speaks, "Draco is right Cynder. If we don't believe in him, that may cause what balance he has achieved to crack and break."

Chase looks up at his friends thinking to himself, " _He didn't give up on me when I needed help. I will never give up on him either._ "

The training rages on nearing the ten minute mark, suddenly Charonus and Charon drop to their knees, but still manage to hold against the onslaught of Lugia's Aeroblast. Just as Lugia stops his attack, Charonus and Charon collapse completely, the dreamform fading away. Charonus lays on the ground asleep for what seems like several hours. During this time, he looks around his dreamscape and spots Charon. "Thanks for helping me...but it still was difficult."

Charon looks over at his waking self, "I agree, but I think we pulled through."

Charonus smiles a bit as he leaves his dreamscape and slowly wakes. Charonus looks around and spots Lugia. "T-that...was intense..." He continues to lay there and try to recover his strength.

Lugia smiles, "You did admirably, but I did see your balance waver. Be careful and don't use that ability to combine your inner and outer self too much."

Charonus nods, "I know...it was quite draining, but now I must ask, what do we do next?"

Lugia speaks, "Recover your lost strength, then we shall head to the outside and bring this barrier down."

Draco, Cynder, Bowser, and Chase come over to their Charmander friend to check on him. As they get closer, something seems to shine from Draco's pack. As Draco, Bowser and Cynder unknowingly line up the same way that they did back at the SinJo ruins around Charonus, a strange light envelopes the Charmander.

"H-huh? Where is this light coming from?" questions Draco.

"It looks like it's coming from your pack buddy," says Bowser as he points to one of the side pockets.

Draco reaches inside and finds the Token of Balance that he won at the Chariciffic Valley, shining a bright light upon Charonus.

Charonus looks at the token curiously as he feels his strength returning, feeling like his body is rebalancing itself. "I think your token is somehow helping me Draco."

Lugia keeps an eye on this occurance and smiles, " _I knew that this group was special, so you have seen it too my Charizard friend._ "

Cynder notices Lugia's gaze, but keeps it to herself, also watching as the shine leaves the token.

Charonus stands up, amazed at what this token has done, "That was incredible. I feel like I did before this training."

Lugia smiles, "I see you have recovered, follow me and lets get this barrier down, shall we."

The group, led by Lugia, traverses the cave network again and eventually reaches the outside, where they see a disturbing sight outside the barrier. Dark clouds gather around, making the sky like night. In the distance to the east, an incredible flash of dark, multicolored light can be seen.

"We have no time, I believe Shadow Lugia may be battling Ho-oh as I speak. Channel your energy Charonus, and help me Aeroblast this barrier down." Lugia says in a worried tone.

Charonus simply nods and gathers his energy into his core, "I sure hope this works...I don't think I will have another shot."

Lugia prepares himself as well. "Just believe in yourself, show that same determination from a little bit ago. Now on my mark...UNLEASH!"

In tandem, Charonus and Lugia take aim to the east side of the barrier and strike with their Aeroblast attacks, striking true into the barrier wall. Charonus and Lugia keep up their attacks, eventually managing to crack the barrier somewhat.

Draco looks on at this, "I know you two can do it!"

Cynder speaks up, "Just give it your all!"

Bowser exclaims, "This will work, keep going!"

Chase leaps onto Bowser's shoulder and yells out, "We must push through!"

As the group continue encouraging Charonus and Lugia, they also keep an eye in the distance, eventually seeing a giant fireball rise into the sky, then dissipate. Just as this happens, the barrier shatters to nothingness.

"My friend, I'll be there soon!" Lugia exclaims as he shoots up into the sky in a shining beam of silver light. He shoots through the shadowy sky above and parts it with his light, he then shoots his gaze to the east and spots Shadow Lugia with Ho-oh nowhere to be seen. "I hope I'm not to late friend..." Lugia stares down Shadow Lugia, the tension between the two avians thick in the air.


	10. Chapter 10

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 10: The Clash Between Light and Dark**

Lugia and Shadow Lugia stare eachother down, slowly drawing closer to eachother. They continue to stare down one another until Shadow Lugia breaks the silence.

"So, you finally managed to get out of your inprisonment. I don't know how, but it matters not to me now. I have dealt with that pesky phoenix that you call a friend." Shadow Lugia smiles wickedly as he seemingly taunts Lugia.

"If I know Ho-oh, he will be fine. I have faith in my friend." says Lugia.

Shadow Lugia shakes his head, "Tisk tisk brother, to have your faith so thouroughly misplaced. I'm trying to help you see the truth and all you can do is live in the past. That phoenix was complacent to a threat that is far beyond the tipping point, and I am here to put an end to it."

Lugia holds back some anger, "First of all, I am not your brother...my brother died in the Orre region many years ago...second, you may be right, but I won't let you bring order through fear and domination. There must be balance in all things!"

Shadow Lugia frowns, "I do bring balance brother. Through fear and domination I will quell the infighting amongst the humans and Pokemon below us. This world is ripe with corruption, greed, pride. They must be subjugated or exponged. Any who would resist shall be wiped away like trash, and that would include you dear brother!" Shadow Lugia spreads his wings wide, an overwhelming aura culminating from his and Shadow Mewtwo's power tangably flows around him.

Lugia looks upon this aura and frowns, "Once more, I am not your..." As Lugia looks closely upon Shadow Lugia's form, he sees something that shocks him. A birthmark in the shape of a silver wing is seen upon his right wing. Lugia looks upon his left wing, seeing the same mark.

Shadow Lugia grins, "Now that you see that I speak the truth, will you still try to stop me my dear brother?"

Lugia sighs, "I must stop you. Your mind has been corrupted with nonsense..."

Shadow Lugia smiles wickedly, but a hint of sadness can be felt. "So be it brother. I tried to spare you personally, but I see you have resigned yourself to destruction. Once I'm done with you, the Johto region shall be my new home, to rule over and control as I spread my shadows to all corners of the Pokeworld."

Lugia summons up the courage to face down his former brother as Shadow Lugia takes control of his swirling shadow aura to hopefully make quick work of Lugia.

Shadow Lugia raises his wings skyward again and releases the stored shadow aura into the form of another Shadow Sky attack. "Your time runs low brother." He lowers his wings and the Shadow Sky seemingly warps around the pair, encasing them in a dark sphere of shadow energy. "This is just between you and me now."

Lugia sighs as he stares down Shadow Lugia. Deep in his core he knows that there may be no coming back from this battle, but he is sure that he must stop his former brother before any harm comes to Johto.

Shadow Lugia senses this wavering in his brother's mind and takes the opportunity. Launching himself towards Lugia, he clamps down hard on Lugia's right wing with a Shadow Fang attack making Lugia caw in pain. Shadow Lugia gets knocked away by Lugia but the damage can already be seen as Lugia's eyes start to close slowly.

"A venomous bite?!" says Lugia in shock.

"Yes Lugia, A miasmic Shadow Fang for my dear brother. If you are going to do something, you better make it fast." Shadow Lugia smiles a devillish grin as he waits.

The group looks on from their vantage point at the Whirl Islands with worry.

"This looks really bad, do you think that Lugia will pull through?" Draco says with some worry.

"We got to believe that he will. Have faith that he can somehow come out of this ok." says Charonus.

"I have faith in my friend, always have and always will." Chase responds

Bowser looks around at his friends, "I wish that we could help Lugia out."

Cynder sighs, "This is not our battle, but I think we can still help if we hurry off to Entei. I also will hold out hope that Lugia can pull through."

The group, agreeing with Cynder begins to make their way to where Entei is thought to be located.

As the battle rages within the dark sphere above, Lugia powers through the combination of Shadow Sky and Shadow Fang managing to hold his own against Shadow Lugia, but the fatigue can be seen getting to him.

"You're fighting a losing battle dear brother. Better make this quick." Shadow Lugia's wicked grin gets wider as he taunts Lugia.

Lugia composes himself using Calm Mind, not falling for Shadow Lugia's taunt and concentrates on his core. " _He is right...this is a losing battle, but I won't give in. I may lose but he won't win either. I must delay his plans, even if for a bit. Hopefully just long enough to make sure Charonus completes his training._ " Lugia gathers his energy into his core and begins to glow, using Recover to hopefully last a little longer.

"So, you do still have a little fight left within you. It matters not, you still will fall today." Shadow Lugia begins to gather his shadow aura into his core. The same attack that he used against Ho-oh starts to materialize.

Lugia watches this and begins to materialize his own version, "May my avian friends in Kanto lend me their strength. The Courage of Thunder, the Knowledge of Ice, and the Strength of Fire. Combine together with the Balance of the Wind!"

Shadow Lugia watches as he prepares to strike, "So, my brother thinks he can match the power of my shadows. Heh, too afraid to stand my Thunder, too inept to withstand my Ice, and certainly too frail to withstand my Fire. My balance in the shadow winds shall eclipse you and lead me to victory!

Both avians complete their attacks at the same time and release with Lugia using a combined Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Aeroblast while Shadow Lugia retorts with Shadow Bolt, Shadow Chill, Shadow Fire, and Shadow Blast. The attacks collide with one another in a spectacular spectacle, unseen outside the shadowy sphere that encases the pair.

The struggle lasts for what seems like an eternity, but as it continues it is clear that Lugia is feeling the effects of his fatigue and poisoning. Sensing that this may be it, Lugia manages to gather even more strength from deep within his core for one final desperation move.

Lugia stares at Shadow Lugia and sighs. He keeps the combined attack up as he begins to spin in place.

Shadow Lugia looks at this in curiosity, "What are you up to my dear brother?" Shadow Lugia is given little time to wonder as Lugia begins to barrel into the struggling attacks, taking all the power into himself and drilling into Shadow Lugia with a Giga Impact attack. The enhanced attack tears into Shadow Lugia and slams him into the side of the shadowy sphere. Shadow Lugia tries deperately to get out of this attack, but before he can, the orb shatters and shards of shadow spread in all directions before dissipating.

Lugia releases the stored energy gathered within him and blasts Shadow Lugia towards Mount Silver in the distance before eventually losing his energy completely and crashing down on top of the Dark Cave area.

"P-please...let that buy the little one time...It is...all up...to...him...now." Lugia passes out slowly, doing all he could.

Shadow Lugia crashes down at the base of Mount Silver unconscious. In his mind he goes over all that happened. " _How could I have lost to him. I had all the advantages...this is impossible._ " Shadow Lugia keeps going over it, he then hears a sinister laugh all around him within his dreamscape.

"It is because of the imbalance you and I share. We are not one yet." the voice says.

"Huh, what do you mean, who are you?" Shadow Lugia searches around, still finding nothing.

"I am the Shadow of Kanto. Rest and recouperate, and as you do listen to my plan. You may not like it at first, but it will pay off in time. It will involve the little Charmander that I faced off against." Shadow Mewtwo materializes in Shadow Lugia's dreamscape and smiles. "We will make use of him when the time is right. Dark shadows swirl within him, take hold of those and he is ours."

The group, hurredly getting out of Ecruteak City and Mount Mortar, heads down the path to Mahogany Town when an overwhelming explosion happens above. The group looks up to see the two avians burst from the sphere in the sky and the shadow shards flying all over. The group watches as some shadow shards head for an area beyond the town that has a lake. Another explosion is heard, followed by an extremely loud and pained roar. Following this event, a torrent of water geysers erupts in all directions. The group looks at eachother.

"Looks like Entei may have to wait. Those shadow shards have me worried." Charonus says.

"Maybe, but we should get to Entei as quick as we can." Bowser says back.

"I think we are destined to help out though. The whispers have even stated so. ' _Beware the Red Skinned one of the Lake. His Rage shall make you Quake._ " Charonus reminds the group.

Draco responds hesitantly, "But what will we find there, and why would the whispers direct us there?"

Cynder thinks for a moment, then answers, "It is probably more of Charonus' training. Not only must he bring balance to himself, but bring balance to others that are hurting. This may be one such occasion."

The group nods as they decide to head north towards the Lake of Rage.


	11. Chapter 11

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 11: Rages Rampage Within the Lake**

A strange man, wearing the Team Rocket uniform makes his way to the shore of a lake where a group of Rocket grunts stands by. He looks out over the lake, surveying the area eventually spotting a Gyarados in the distance.

"How goes the tests. Is this Evolution Signal viable. I must report back to Archer as soon as possible."

One of the Rocket grunts look over at the man, "Admin Petril, things go well with the Evolution Signal, but there is a slight issue. The Pokemon appears to be in a state of rage. We can't get anyone close to it."

"As long as the signal works, it matters not. Archer wants to bring the strongest Pokemon to Giovanni and this Evolution Signal will help us do just that. Do all that you have to to get that Pokemon prepared for transport. I will be at the base in Mahogany Town. I hope to hear good news later."

The Rocket grunt sighs, but complies with Admin Petril's command, "Yes sir..."

As Admin Petril leaves, the Rocket grunt looks over at two other Rocket members, "You two, prepare to get that Gyarados ready for transport."

The pair looks back at the Rocket grunt and nod their heads. They then board a boat with some other grunts and head towards the Gyarados. As the group make their way to the center of the lake, and the Gyarados that resides there, they notice the skies of Johto begin to darken.

The lead female grunt looks over to her partner, "Looks like a storm is starting up, but it seems to be moving in quite quickly. What do you think that might mean Botch?"

The male, looking at his partner quite annoyed, answers. "First of all, my name is Butch. How many times do I need to tell you that Cassidy? Second, I'm not worried about it. We need to focus on the task at hand and bring in that Gyarados."

Cassidy looks back, "S-sorry...I'll try to remember."

Butch looks at the other grunts, "Alright men, get the Electronet ready. We need to bring this Gyarados in."

The other grunts simply nod and start to prepare the Electronet launcher to snag the artificially evolved Gyarados.

As the group of Rocket grunts gets closer to their target, the skies get darker and darker over Johto to the point of being as dark as the night itself. Some of the grunts worry about this, but Butch quickly gets them back on their task. As the group draws closer, the Gyarados locks eyes with them, staring them down angrily.

"Wait for an opening, then get that net on him!" Butch yells out, but in doing so the Gyarados launches an Hurricane attack, making things increasingly harder. The Rocket group tries to find a good position to land the net on the Gyarados, but at every turn they are blocked.

Butch, getting ever more impatient, takes the net launcher himself and takes aim at the Gyarados. He sets up a shot and takes fire, but at the moment of firing the Gyarados lets loose a Dragon Pulse that knocks Butch off balance and causes him to miss. Butch looks at the Gyarados angrily as he hands the launcher back to the grunts to be loaded with another net.

As the tussle on the lake continues, in the skies above a light pierces the darkness covering Johto, making the clouds disperse. All of the grunts, and even Gyarados look up at this occurence except for Butch and Cassidy, who in tandem take aim again at the Gyarados.

"This shot should do it Biff." says Cassidy.

"Grrr, I'm concentrating Cassidy, and my name is BUTCH!" Says Butch angrily.

"Whatever Bob, just take the shot." Cassidy responds.

Butch, now ignoring Cassidy takes fire and watches as the net strikes home and wraps the Gyarados up inside and then activates its electric netting. The Gyarados stiffens for a moment, then goes limp.

"Alright you grunts, lets get that Gyarados and bring him to shore for transport to the Mahogany base." Butch orders the grunts.

As the group of grunts make their way to the shoreline, the skies start to darken once again.

Cassidy looks to her partner, "What is up with this weather today. It keeps changing from storming to not. What is going on Butch."

Butch looks at his partner slightly annoyed, "My name is Patch dangit...Great...Now you made me mess up my name! Anyway, how should I know. It must be just one of those days."

The group finally gets to shore, but as they haul the Gyarados onto land and prepare it for transport to the Rocket's Mahogany base, a loud boom of what sounds like thunder rings out. As the group looks around for where the sound came from, shards of darkness begin to rain down around them from some unknown source. One such shard happens to smash right into the Gyarados, covering him in a dark aura.

"W-what is going on here?!" cries out one of the Rocket grunts.

"I have no idea, but I'm getting out of here." yells another.

The group of Rocket grunts starts to disperse. Butch and Cassidy try to call them, back, but are unable to stop the fleeing grunts.

"So much for the help...cowards. says Butch angrily. "Looks like we will get all the glory for hauling this Pokemon in then."

Butch looks over at Cassidy who has a look of fear on her face. He looks over at what she is looking at and comes face to face with a menacing looking Gyarados that is looming over the duo. The darkness assimilates into the Gyarados, altering its form. The fins along its back growing into massive sails and giving it semisphere like protrusions along its flanks. The whiskers and headcrest also get longer, the latter also getting an increased sharpness to it as well. The Gyarados lets out an intimidating roar and lets loose with a powerful Hyper Beam attack directed at the duo, blasting them over the horizon with a flash. The Gyarados then roars out again as it rampages around with multiple Outrages and Hydro Pumps.

Charonus' group runs up the path leading towards the lake from Mahogany Town. As they pass the midway point of the route, they trip an unseen alarm grid that sends a video feed back to Admin Petril in the Mahogany base. He views the feed and sees the group rushing towards the lake.

"Hmmm, now that is an interesting group of Pokemon if I ever saw one. I wonder why they are headed towards the lake in such a hurry. I guess I should keep an eye on this, and if they prove to be interesting I will let Archer know to be on the lookout."

Admin Petril presses some buttons on the display console and brings up a video feed of the lake itself and sees that most of the cameras have been knocked out of commission, but he manages to find one that works and spots the transformed and raging Red Gyarados.

"Well now, I see. Looks like those grunts failed in their mission to capture the Pokemon, but I see why that was. That group of Pokemon must be wanting to be heroes. This should be interesting to watch."

As Charonus' group gets closer to the lake, they start having to dodge torrents of water coming from the direction they run towards.

"What in the world is causing this kind of damage?" Asks Cynder.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is, we must be prepared to calm its rage. We can't let this continue." Charonus says back.

The group continues forward, and as they do the skies darken above them and a harsh downpour begins. The group finally reaches the clearing to the lake and look around. On the shoreline they spot the Red Gyarados, who locks eyes with them and sends a powerful Hydro Pump their way. The group barely has time to dodge the attack as they scatter and spread out.

Charonus looks up at the Gyarados and sees the shadowy aura swirl around the Gyarados, "Well I think we found the source of the rage, A red skinned Pokemon of the lake."

"This may be tough. The Pokemon is out of control." warns Bowser.

Cynder looks at the Gyarados and assesses the situation, "We must find some way to calm its rage. Getting rid of that shadow aura somehow should be a good start."

A loud boom is heard from above as suddenly the Gyarados strikes at the group with a Thunder attack. The group has barely manages to scatter in time.

"Stay alert everyone. This Gyarados' rage is quite upredictable. We won't know what attacks he may use." Cynder yells out to her scattered friends.

Bowser looks towards the Gyarados, "I'll try to draw its attention. You guys see if you can get in and somehow stop it."

Draco looks at his friend with worry, "Don't take too much of a risk Bowser."

Bowser looks at Draco and smiles. "I'll be fine Draco. Just concentrate on the Pokemon and find what is making it rage."

Bowser tries to draw the attention of the Gyarados by slamming into it with a Whirling Fortress, but is quickly met with a Dragon Tail and sent flying. The Gyarados turns his attention towards Draco, seeing the Charizard as a threat towards him in his shadow shrouded mind. Charonus looks at the situation and runs over to Chase.

"Chase, can you get me around the backside of the Pokemon? I'm going to try to get onto his back." Charonus asks.

Chase sighs and looks down, "Please Charonus. I know that you are brave, but this may be too much. I think we need to get out of here."

Charonus looks down, "If we leave, this kind of rampage could have lasting effects in Johto...I know what this kind of rage is like...I must help."

Chase looks into Charonus' eyes as he looks up at Chase.

Chase smiles weakly, "I hope to borrow a little of that courage you show...I will try to help out Charonus." Chase kneels down so Charonus can climb onto his back. Once Charonus is aboard Chase leaps forward with a Flame Charge towards the Gyarados, managing to get in close. Charonus, using the speed that Chase's Flame Charge provided, leaps onto the Gyarados' left large sail and looks around. He eventually spots what looks like a shard of obsidian glass sticking out from in between it's massive sails.

"That must be that shadow shard. If i could just get down there..." Charonus feels the Gyarados turn suddenly and Charonus hangs on for his life. Charonus hears a scream from below him and as he looks down, he sees Cynder flying away into the treeline near the lakeshore as she managed to push Draco out of the way of a Hyper Beam attack before getting struck herself.

Draco yells out as he rushes to her side, "Cynder! Please be ok!" He gets to where Cynder landed and he looks at her sadly as he assesses her injuries. "Why would you take that risk Cynder?"

Cynder looks up at Draco weakly, "You weren't paying attention...I didn't want to see you hurt..."

Bowser runs over to the pair, "Cynder, that was reckless even for you..."

"Never mind me. I'll be fine with Draco, you go help Charonus." Cynder says back

Bowser nods as he heads back into the fray to help Charonus and Chase, "You two lay low for a bit, and I'll give that Pokemon one for both of you."

Draco nods as he begins to tend to Cynder. He slowly turns Cynder onto her side and sees the burn that she sustained from the Hyper Beam. He grimaces at the sight and looks into his bag for something to treat her with. He manages to find a Hyper Potion and brings it out.

"Stay still Cynder, this is going to hurt..." Draco says to her as he sprays the Hyper Potion onto the scorched area. Cynder flinches when the spray makes contact with her injury, but takes it in stride.

Bowser reappears next to Chase and looks around. "Huh, where is Charonus?"

Chase frowns, "He's on the back of the Gyarados right now."

Bowser looks at the Gyarados, "What?! Why is he there?"

"I think he may be finding a way to calm the Pokemon, but we must help him. We must keep that Pokemon focused on us."

Bowser simply nods and the pair move in.

Charonus slowly makes his way down the huge sail like fin of the Gyarados, headed towards the shadow shard. "I hope this works...if I remove this, it may quell some of the rage that this Pokemon is feeling..." Charonus reaches the Gyarados' back and takes a look at the shadow shard while holding on tight as the Gyarados thrashes about as Bowser and Chase try to keep the focus on them. As Charonus looks at the shadow shard, something within himself surges and Charon comes to the forefront.

Being pushed to the back of his mind, Charonus wonders what is going on.

"Charon, what are you doing?" Charonus calls out to his now outer self.

"This is dangerous Charonus...I'm taking control to protect you from this. I can get rid of this shadow shard in your place. Please trust in me." Charon says back to him as he reaches for the shard. "I will lock it in my part of our core...but this will have risks, but I believe our training will see us through."

"I really hope you know what you are doing but I believe we must do this together." Charonus calls back.

Charon thinks for a moment, then agrees with Charonus. Charon and Charonus, within the same body, reach for the shadow shard and take it into themselves. A massive blast of energy is released that envelopes the whole lake area, even blinding the surveilence cameras around the area. As the light subsides, the Gyarados lies on the ground in its normal state as well as Charonus right beside it, also knocked out.

Bowser and Chase rush to Charonus' aid, hoping that their Charmander buddy is alright. As they get to Charonus, he starts to come to.

"D-did I do it?" Charonus weakly says.

Bowser looks upon his friend, noting that his eyes show a strange darkness that quickly subsides. Bowser lets the sight pass without telling Charonus. "Y-yeah...I'm just glad to see that you are ok buddy."

Chase starts to cry, "Don't worry me like that again Charonus...you had me worried..."

Bowser picks up his Charmander friend and carries him over to meet the others.

As the group meets up, a quiet voice meets their ears as the Gyarados slips slowly back into the lake, "You are a special one...thanks for the help young Charmander..."

Charonus falls asleep in Bowser's arms, listening to this voice. He lets out a smile as the group heads out back towards Mahogany town to continue their journey.

Another voice on the wind whispers past, directing the group onward, " _Nearby where dragons dwell, a battle with fire will instruct you well_."


	12. Chapter 12

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 12: The Rocket's Signal Within Golden Walls**

At the Goldenrod Radio Tower on the fifth floor, a red-haired woman wearing a white dress outfit sits at the desk in the room looking over some documents. Her face sours a bit looking through the information on the documents.

"Ever since that debacle on Cinnabar Island which crippled our leader and made ash of many of our grunts, things have been going at a snails pace...even recruitment has been slow. We need something that will bring in more recruits. If we only knew of the whereabouts of the Charmander that torched Giovanni...We also need to concentrate on Shadow Lugia..."

The woman continues to think to herself for a while when suddenly the video phone on the desk rings. She presses a button and sees Admin Petril on the other end.

"Ah, Petril, I hope you bring me good news from the Lake of Rage. You do know what I do to those who dissapoint me."

Petril gulps, "Y-yes Admin Ariana. I do have news, but you may not like it..."

Ariana scowles at Petril, "Well then, out with it."

Petril sighs, "Right...the team at the Lake of Rage was unable to bring in the Red Gyarados, but it was due to some unforseen circumstance."

Ariana gets visibly angry, "Excuses again, are you sure that those grunts weren't just incompetent?"

Petril stands visibly shook, "N-no mam. They did manage to bring the Gyarados ashore, but something happened to it." Petril presses a button and a feed showing what the Gyarados looked like appears to Ariana. "Shadows took control of it and changed it into that. That is what some grunts who managed to return to our secret base in Mahogany have told me."

Ariana takes a look at this feed, "Hmmm...and I thought the red coloring was interesting. I wonder if this has anything to do with Shadow Lugia." Ariana looks at Petril, "Any other news to report Petril?"

Petril nods, "Yes, before spotting the transformed Gyarados, there happened to be this strange group of Pokemon rushing towards the lake. I think you may be quite interested in them." Petril shows off the feed from the camera that caught Charonus' group as they rushed to the lakeshore.

Ariana smiles, "Yes, I am quite interested in this Petril. This looks like the group that we have been searching for ever since the Cinnabar incident, minus the Houndoom. A group consisting of a strange Blastoise and Dragon-type, a clothed Charizard and a small Charmander. Do you know where the group is now?"

Petril checks his video cams and spots them on the road just out of Mahogany Town to the east. "Yes Admin Ariana. It appears that they may be headed towards Blackthorn. I'm not sure why, but I will put some grunts on surveilence."

Ariana smiles, "Excellent Petril. Keep me up to date, and make sure no one does anything foolish. Let us bide our time until the time is right."

Petril bows, "Yes Admin Ariana."

The call ends and Ariana stands up, "Finally, a little bit of good news. I should let Admin Archer know and see how he wants to handle this." She looks back over the feed and prints out a couple of pictures before heading to the observatory floor.

Archer, another Team Rocket Admin that serves as leader of the Johto branch, stares out of the windows in the observatory floor of the Goldenrod Radio Tower. As he looks out over the city, he is lost in thought, going over the particular day in his head that led to his boss getting severly burned and unable to use his legs.

"That Charmander...it had a more powerful fire than even any fire type I have ever seen. A fire that burns hotter than even my Houndoom's flame. How can such a small Pokemon carry such a power?" He continues to think to himself as the elevator doors behind him start to open. He snaps out of his thoughts and turns to see Admin Ariana coming towards him. "Ariana, I wasn't expecting you."

Ariana walks up to Archer and stands beside him, "Going over that day in your head again Archer? The day with that Charmander and Shadow Mewtwo in Kanto?"

Archer sighs, "Yes...was it that plain on my face?"

Ariana sighs as well, "It seems to be the only thing you think about now. As a matter of fact, while we are on this subject, I have some interesting news from the Lake of Rage and Petril's group."

Archer looks towards Ariana and raises an eyebrow, "Interesting news huh. Well then, what is it then?"

Ariana smiles, "Petril reports that they failed to bring in the red scaled Gyarados, but all is not as it seems. The Gyarados was awashed in shadows and changed form." She presents Archer with a picture of the Red Gyarados.

Archer stops her, "Shadows, like the shadows I saw not too long ago? Like the ones on that day on Cinnabar?"

Ariana nods, "The very same. Also it looks like a group of Pokemon went there and managed to quell the rage of the Gyarados. A group that I will think that you will be most interested in." She presents to him a picture of Charonus' group.

Archer looks over this photo with interest, "This is that group. I'm sure of it. A Charmander, strange Blastoise, unidentified clothed dragon-type, and a clothed Charizard. All of the ones that were at Cinnabar, and they are here in Johto?"

Ariana nods, "Petril affirmed this himself. The group apparently is on the move to Blackthorn. I'm not sure why, but there must be something there. I have instructed Petril to keep an eye on them."

Archer smiles, "That was good news indeed Ariana. I must catch that group and present them to Giovanni."

A Rocket grunt runs up through the radio tower with urgent news for Admin Archer. He reaches the elevator and enters, eager to relay the news that he learned recently about Shadow Lugia and Lugia. He catches his breath as he takes the ride up to the observation deck and calms himself. The doors to the elevator open up and the grunt steps through, interrupting Archer's and Ariana's talk. The pair turn to him and notice that the grunt is somewhat out of breath.

Ariana speaks, somewhat annoyed, "What have you come here for. It better be something important."

The Rocket grunt catches his breath finally, "Y-yes Admin Ariana, mam. I do have important news. I was around Ecruteak City when I saw a battle in the skies between Ho-oh and Shadow Lugia, then a battle between Shadow Lugia and Lugia."

Archer looks at the grunt and raises an eyebrow, "A battle between the legends of Johto and Shadow Lugia? Tell me what happened and where are they now."

The grunt nods and relays all that he knows, from the beginning of the battle between Ho-oh and Shadow Lugia, to the pilliar of light of Lugia's skyward flight to the strange sphere of shadow and subsequent breakage of the sphere and the two avians crashing in different parts of Johto. After the grunt relays all he knows, he kneels on the ground out of breath.

Archer asks the grunt, "Do you know exactly where the two avians have landed, and what of the fate of Ho-oh?"

The grunt replies through deep breaths, "Lugia fell in the area of the Dark Cave, while Shadow Lugia fell in the area of Mount Silver...as for Ho-oh...it was vaporized by Shadow Lugia."

Archer steps back a bit, "Vaporized by Shadow Lugia. Such power...even more than that Charmander. I wonder if there is a connection..."

Ariana looks art Archer, "What do you want to do about this sir?"

Archer smiles, "Get the word out over the airwaves to all current and future Rocket recruits. We are going after the Charmander group and the two Lugias. And send a message to Giovanni in Kanto. He will want to come personally once the Pokemon are ours."

Ariana bows to Archer, "It will be done."

All over Johto, on every radio station, the Rocket's signal brodcasts the groups new intentions to the populace. The broadcast even reaches the ears of Giovanni in Kanto. He turns up his radio that sits by him and listens and smiles.

"So, the Admin I instructed to take care of things in Johto has finally started to make his big move. He also has found the Charmander that burned my legs." He calls for Jessie and James to come to his office.

The duo and Meowth come as instructed and approach their boss. They speak in tandem, "G-Giovanni sir?"

Giovanni turns to face the three, "I assume you are aware of the happenings in Johto."

Jessie speaks up, "Y-yes sir, it is all over the radio."

Giovanni smiles, "I will need you to escort me to Johto."

James speaks up, "But sir, are you sure you will be able to travel in your condition?"

Giovanni begins to scowl at James, "I care not as long as I get that Charmander for my own, as well as the Shadow Lugia I have been hearing about. The glory of Team Rocket will rely on those Pokemkon being in my clutches!"

Meowth leaps up and scratches James, "What da boss wants, the boss gets..." He speaks under his breath as quietly as he can, "Although I do agree with you some..."

Giovanni turns back around, "Make your preparations. I want to be headed to Johto as soon as possible."

The trio bows, "Yes Giovanni sir."

Back in Johto, in Cherrygrove City, A red haired boy walks around and happens to hear the Rocket signal on the radio.

"The old fool. If he keeps up like this he will wind up a slave...that is why I want nothing to do with him."

He continues to think to himself, then he remembers something. He remembers from weeks back when he was entering this very town that there was a strange group of Pokemon that he walked past. "Wait...it couldn't of been the same group, could it?" The human looks in the direction of Blackthorn and quietly contemplates to himself.


	13. Chapter 13

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 13: Blazing Challenge in Blackthorn**

Chase takes a look around as the group reaches the east side of Mahogany Town, "So, where do you think we go next?"

Bowser takes a look around as well and spots a pillar of flame towards the east, "I don't know about you, but that fire looks like a good place to look." He takes out a map and looks it over, "Looks like a place called Blackthorn is in that direction."

The group comes out of Mahogany Town and begins their trek on Route 44 towards Blackthorn. They have a conversation over what transpired at the Lake of Rage while Charonus remains asleep while upon Chase's back now.

Draco looks over to Cynder as he helps her along, still not totally recovered from the damage she took from the shadow powered Gyarados' Hyper Beam. "How are you faring Cynder?"

Cynder responds with some pain in her voice, "I-I'm doing as good as I can be. Thank you for helping me out Draco."

Draco sighs, "I should be saying the same to you Cynder...It could of been me in this condition instead."

Cynder smiles weakly, "No need Draco. I know you would of done the same for me as well."

The group continues to converse as they make their way down the route towards Blackthorn.

In Charonus' dreamscape, Charonus looks at Charon with a little anger, "I really don't like you taking over like that Charon...we are in this together you know."

Charon lowers his head, "I know that Charonus...but I was only trying to protect you. I'm sorry about what I did though."

Charonus sighs, "Please warn me next time so we can work together more closely, ok."

Charon nods, "I will, but I hope we won't have to do that again...I think also I should take a back seat during this next training session."

Charonus nods, "That may be for the best...after what we were just through."

The pair continue to talk to eachother as Charonus sleeps.

Bowser continues to look over the map of Johto as they continue down the route, "Hmmm, looks like we need to pass through a cave called the Ice Path to reach Blackthorn."

Draco looks over at Bowser, "I wonder if it is anything like the ice caves of Seafoam Island. Now that was a cold place."

Cynder laughs a bit, "Well, Articuno was residing there after all. Also I felt quite comfortable there."

Bowser and Draco frown a bit and sigh.

Chase looks towards the end of the path and sees the cave entrance, "Looks like we are almost there guys. Guess you two should bundle up."

Bowser looks down at Chase, Well, what about you? Shouldn't you bundle up as well?"

Chase smiles, "I'll be fine...I think, but one of you should bundle up Charonus as well. Wouldn't want our Charmander friend to get a cold before getting to Entei."

Cynder smiles, "Yeah, you're right Chase. I'll go ahead and get him bundled up." She slowly wakes the little Charmander and waits for him to get up fully. "Hey there sleepyhead. We are about to go to a cave that connects Blackthorn and here, and from what Bowser has said there will be ice there."

Charonus looks up at Cynder. He shivers a bit when he thinks back to the ice caves of Seafoam, "Brrr...just thinking about ice makes me cold. I guess I should get ready." He leaps off of Chase's back and rummages through his pack for his winter gear. When he finds it he slips the gear on and looks back at the rest of the group. He notices Chase, "Shouldn't you get ready too?"

Chase smiles, "Cynder said the same thing, but I'll be alright. You don't have to worry about me."

With preparations complete, the group enters the Ice Path. Draco, Charonus, and Bowser feel the familiar chill of ice all around them even through their winter gear, but Cynder and Chase are able to withstand the cold. As the group makes their way through the Ice Paths first floor, they deal with sliding around on the slick icy ground. On one particular patch of icy floor Chase happens to slip and land upside down, skidding into a wall.

"Hehe, now that was funny Chase." Charonus says while trying not to laugh too much.

Chase gets up and sighs, "I guess I'm not as used to ice as I thought I was. At least when it comes to walking on it anyway."

Bowser, laughing a bit himself, slips on the ice as well and goes spinning like when he uses Whirling Fortress, except he winds upside down. This time Cynder and Draco laugh at their fallen Koopa companion.

"Now that was funny." says Draco through his chortles.

"Let's go help him up Draco." says Cynder as she heads towards Bowser.

Draco nods and helps Cynder right Bowser.

Bowser sighs, but laughs a bit himself, "Guess I need to be more careful, huh."

The group continues along the icy floors until they find a way down further. Entering the next floor Cynder notices something strange within the area, but keeps it to herself for the moment. The group manages to get to the bottom floor of the cavern without much more sliding around. As they look around Charonus feels something a little off that makes him take a closer look around. He takes a close look at one of the ice walls of the area. "Something seems off here. It looks like the ice here might be melting, but how?"

Cynder looks at Charonus, "I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, but I think that you may be right. I happened to feel a little warm air on the floor above us."

Chase, Bowser, and Draco look around but can't tell if what Charonus and Cynder say is correct or not. The group continues forward towards another part of the cave that starts to go up. Once there the group notices that the place is indeed melting, and a prevaling heat brushes past them that comes from another cave system that leads up to the top floor. They make their way across more ice, but at the same time shallow puddles of water that have pooled around the floor. Reaching the top floor again, it starts to get too warm for the group in their winter gear. The heat starts to get to even Cynder, who starts to sweat some from it.

"This heat seems quite strong to even melt the ice here in this frozen cavern." Cynder wipes her brow.

"If this is really Entei, the heat he radiates seems quite strong." says Draco.

"He is a Sacred Beast of Johto, and the strongest one of the group it looked like." mentions Charonus.

The group continues to the exit of the Ice Path and look outside. The view from outside waves around in front of their eyes due to the massive heat that is being dispalyed.

"This heat is really strong...no wonder the Ice Path on this side is melting." Cynder says as she reaches into her pack for a water bottle.

"We must perservere. Just like the other tests, this one must have to do with Strength. To get through this heat and reach Entei must be the test."

The group continues to make their way into the center of Blackthorn but with every step they feel the heat getting more and more to them. The heat begins to get too much for even Draco, Charonus and Chase to handle, who start to sweat quite a bit.

"T-this heat...it is sapping our very strength..." Cynder says weakly as she collapses down to her knees.

Draco stops and holds Cynder, "Cynder, what do you want to do. This heat is too much for you."

Cynder looks up at Draco, "I want to get back away from the heat until a way is found to stop it..."

Charonus looks at Cynder with concern. He then makes a decision. "Draco, go ahead and watch over Cynder. Get her out of the heat if you can. I will head on and try to find Entei with Bowser and Chase."

Draco nods and watches as the trio heads towards the center of the city, "Please hurry Charonus. The sooner this heat is taken care of, the better."

As the group nears the center of Blackthorn they catch a glimpse of what they think is Entei, but as soon as they lock eyes on it the apparition dissapears into the waves of heat. At the same time Bowser, Charonus, and Chase feel weaker with every passing moment.

"We must hurry and find a way to stop this heat before all of our strength is gone..." says Chase worredly.

"You must keep yourself calm. Getting worked up now will only make it worse Chase." Bowser says, trying to calm the situation. While Bowser and Chase try to remain calm, Charonus senses around for Entei's aura. He looks within himself as well, wondering if Charon has a way to stop this heat.

"Charon, is there any way to aleviate this heat at all?" Charonus asks his inner Charizard.

Charon thinks for a moment, "Hmmm...there might be a way, but it could be a little draining. I will try to help you with it if you will let me."

Charonus nods, "Of course Charon. We are in this together." Charonus, with the help of Charon try to think of a way to counter Entei's heat. Over the course of what seems like hours in Charonus' dreamscape, but mere minutes on the outside, they manage to come up with a plan.

Charonus stands up and opens his eyes, one ruby red and one emerald green once again. "Bowser, Chase, I have an idea, but you two need to brace yourselves."

Bowser and Chase look at eachother, then back to Charonus. They back off a fair ways from their Charmander friend and watch what he plans to do.

Charonus draws in the strength from both himself and his dreamform self and focuses it in his maw and clawed hands. His paws begin to glow blue while a powerful looking wind gathers in his maw. Chase and Bowser look upon this in awe as Charonus looks up to the sky and takes aim at seemingly nothingness.

Charonus fires a concentrated Ice Beam, followed a second later by a powerful Aeroblast. The two techniques converge at a point and seemingly strike something up above. The twin technique bursts into a shower of snow as the heat in the area rapidly dissipates and reveals Entei standing on a nearby building that Charonus aimed at using his aura to sense him there. Charonus falls to one knee and tries to catch his breath.

"Excellent young one. You managed to surpass the strength of my heat and find me here. For now you should rest and recouperate."

Charonus sighs a bit, "Do we have time to rest though?"

Entei frowns, "Our time is short, but we do have time while Shadow Lugia remains dormant. My brothers watch over where he rests and will alert me of any stirring."

Charonus nods and decides to rest as Entei has instructed.

Draco and Cynder arrive moments later and marvel at the snow that now is on the ground. They then spot Entei and bow to him.

Entei spots the pair and sighs a bit, "I am sorry that my heat was overwhelming young dragoness, but I did need to test the young Charmander."

Cynder nods, "I am well aware Entei. It was for the best."

Entei returns to his high point atop the tallest building in Blackthorn, "Rest now everyone. I will keep alert for any news from my brothers."

The group decides to turn in for the night and prepare for what may come the next day.

The following morning Charonus wakes early and looks around for Entei. He manages to spot Entei still perched upon the highest building in Blackthorn looking off to the east. Charonus decides to get the jump start on his training and gets his dreamform ready. Charonus decides to get the drop on Entei by using a Dragon Claw attack. As Charonus reaches Entei for his attack, he senses something is off but it is too late as Charonus strikes into a Substitute set up before hand without his knowledge.

Entei's voice echos from all around Charonus, "Nice try young one, but you would have to get up even earlier in the day to pull a trick like that on me. Seeing as you are eager for your lesson, let it commense now!"

Charonus looks around for where Entei could possibly be but comes up empty. He is suddenly struck on the side by a powerful attack seemingly from nowhere. "Owww...where did that come from? And that power...I need to be careful..." Charonus calms himself as he closes his eyes again to try and sense Entei out, but this time this plan fails as he senses multiple points of Entei's aura in the area. " _Multiple Enteis? How is that possible? I must remain calm and try to get through this trick_."

Entei watches from a secluded area, taking note of Charonus' movements. He watches as a stillness comes over the Dreamzard form. Entei decides to test Charonus by sending one of his fake auras towards Charonus. Charonus reacts by striking towards the fake aura but hitting nothing but heated air. Charonus frowns but keeps calm, waiting for another attack.

"That is it Charonus, sense me out and wait for an opportunity." Entei throws another fake aura at Charonus, but this time Charonus doesn't react. Entei smiles at this and prepares his next move.

Charonus continues to try and sense Entei out. He feels yet another aura headed towards him, but this time he senses something different. " _A flare up from a different position...hard to hide when you need to control something. I just need to make sure before I strike._ " Charonus waits for another strike, and he soon gets it, but this time it happens to be a powerful fire attack that knocks the Dreamzard down and leaves him with a slight burn upon his left leg. Charonus tries to stand after the attack, but drops to his left knee. "What kind of fire attack was that...I need to be more careful." Charonus looks around for a moment and feels another fake aura brush by him. He waits once more then suddenly feels the familiar flare up coming towards him. Charonus stretches his arms outwards and manages to deflect the next fiery attack. As the attack dissipates, something strange strikes him.

"That attack...it feels familiar somehow." He looks within himself, through his memories to try and find something like it. As he does Entei attacks again and Charonus is able to defend against it. Several attacks later and Charonus looks up with a look of inspiration in his eyes. He draws some energy into his core and uses Charge, he then waits for the next attack.

Entei watches Charonus closely, "Hmmm, what are you planning Charonus?" Entei draws near and charges towards Charonus one last time, striking with his most powerful Lava Plume attack.

As Entei attacks, Charonus looks up at the oncoming Entei and strikes back with a Discharge attack. "A gift from your brother Raikou." Charonus' attack strikes out with such speed that Entei is on the ground paralyzed before he knows it. Charonus slowly stands and returns to his Charmander frame. He then makes his way to Entei and uses a Paralyz Heal on him.

Entei smiles, "You saw through the power of my heat and came through young Charmander. I never would of expected to see you use my own brothers move against me."

Charonus smiles a bit, "Yeah...it was difficult, and I didn't really know what you were doing until the end. It was a move just like Raikou's wasn't it?"

Entei nods, "Indeed, it is a move called Lava Plume and I'm glad that you made that connection."

Chase, who hwas watching the duo train, runs over to Charonus, "That was really impressive. You got through another training session."

Charonus looks over at Chase, "Huh, how long have you been watching Chase?"

Chase looks at Charonus puzzled, "It's after noon now Charonus. You were training all morning."

Charonus looks at Chase in shock, "WHAT!" He looks around and sees Cynder, Bowser and Draco wave towards him. He then looks into the sky and sees that what Chase says is correct. "I guess I got really lost in the training session."

Entei smiles at Charonus, "You must have really been focusing on it and nothing else." Entei looks towards the east again. "And you completed it not a moment too soon. Shadow Lugia is stirring. He soon may waken."

Charonus looks a bit worried, "Is there any thing I can do Entei?"

Entei nods, "You can train with the dragons here in the time being as we Sacred Beasts watch and see what Shadow Lugia will do. It is best not to rush and do anything that will bring you harm."

Charonus nods, "Yes...despite what I have learned, there is just something inside me that tells me I'm not ready to face Shadow Lugia...I will train with the dragons."

A female human with blue hair who was also watching the training with Entei comes close to Charonus and Chase. The rest of the group comes over to Charonus as well when they see the human approach.

The human looks at the group, "I couldn't help but overhear your coversation young Charmander. My name is Clair, and I am a trainer of Dragon-type Pokemon here in Blackthorn."

Charonus looks up at Clair, "And what does your arrival have to do with me training with the dragons here?"

Clair smiles, "The dragons are hard to approach and will only lend their aid in training when I am near."

Charonus is taken aback for the simple fact that Clair understood what he said to her when other humans have not. "Wait...how?"

Chase looks up at Clair, then back at Charonus, "Did she just understand you?"

Charonus simply nods.

Clair laughs a bit, "It's quite alright. I have a link with dragon like Pokemon. I can understand them just as much as I can understand other humans. Unfortunately for your Houndoom friend, I can't understand him. So, if it's training with dragons you seek, please follow me. Your friends are welcome as well, and if they want to train with you, then that is fine as well."

Charonus smiles at Clair and follows her when she starts to walk away. The rest of the group follows as well. They eventually arrive at a cave that Clair calls 'The Dragon's Den'.

"The dragons await inside, some from other regions as well. After what I saw from your earlier training I know that you can provide some entertainment for them."

The group and Clair enters the Dragon's Den under watch from a shifty human who pretends to be walking through Blackthorn. "So, training with Dragons. This will buy us some time to prepare our trap." The shifty human walks out of Blackthorn towards New Bark Town on his way to meet up with a group at Tohjo Falls.


	14. Chapter 14

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 14: Meeting in the Dragon's Den**

The group follows Clair as they enter the Dragon's Den of Blackthorn. Charonus looks around as they are led deeper, wondering to himself about what he will encounter there.

Draco looks over at Clair, "Hey Clair, what kind of dragons are in here?"

Clair stops and looks back at Draco, "The dragons here come from all over the Pokeworld to train their own balance with one another. They are a tight knit, yet stubborn group that rarely let humans or other Pokemon types near."

Cynder asks, "If that is true, then how are you able to approach them?"

Clair takes a moment, then answers, "I come from a line of humans who watches over and trains with the dragons. It started with my grandfather who is simply known as The Master, and his teachings have been passed down to myself and my cousin, Lance. I stay here while my cousin is busy with trainers during the Pokemon League challenge at the Indigo Plateau."

Bowser speaks up, "A challenge for humans using Pokemon?"

Clair nods a bit, "Yes, but don't think of it as humans using Pokemon. Except for a very few outlying circumstances, human and Pokemon work together and grow alongside eachother through battle and training. The league challenge is just another one of these sessions. To tell you the truth, I am a part of this challenge as well, but enough of that. We will be at the center of the den soon enough."

As the group heads further into the Dragons Den, they start to hear draconic like roars and sounds of battle. Clair leads the group closer to these sounds, eventually leading them to a large central chamber. Charonus takes a look around and sees several Pokemon standing around. The Pokemon stop when they see Clair and the group approach.

A large dragon Pokemon with light orange skin makes its way to Clair and the group while the others resume their training. "What brings you here with this group today Clair?" the Pokemon says with a gentle voice, full of curiosity.

"I bring this group here in the hopes that you and the others here might be able to train them." Clair responds back.

The dragon Pokemon looks over the group, "Is one among them the one that quelled Entei's fire earlier. I can sense that Entei has moved on from the area."

Clair nods, "Apparently it was on the behest of Entei that they train here. At least that is what the little Charmander here has told me."

The dragon Pokemon looks down at Charonus and locks eyes with him. Charonus looks back at the dragon Pokemon and senses a gentleness from it, much like his own grandfathers. The dragon Pokemon seems to peer into Charonus' very core and sees the swirling turmoil within him, but also the tempered will that he has.

The dragon Pokemon looks back over to Clair, "I can see the resolve in this ones eyes, but also a dark power within. Much like one I had the honor of sparring with some years ago, Charzen I think his name was."

Charonus looks up when his father's name is spoken, "W-wait...d-did you say Charzen?"

The dragon Pokemon looks down at Charonus again, "I did. We sparred in this very cave several years back. He managed to best me using balance."

Charonus smiles a bit while holding back tears. He looks up at the dragon Pokemon, "I am his son."

The dragon Pokemon, Clair and even the training dragons fall silent.

The dragon Pokemon then speaks up, "You are his child? How did I not see it."

Clair looks over, "I didn't even see it myself Dragonite."

Dragonite smiles, "Well then, this changes things a bit. I will be honored to train you here young Charmander."

Charonus smiles and bows, "Call me Charonus, and thank you for allowing me to train with you Dragonite."

The dragons make a space for Dragonite and Charonus as they move into the center of the large space of the cave. The Dragonite motions to some dragons to come closer.

"If I'm going to train Charonus, I will need some help. Charzen was formidable in his own right. I believe his child will be much the same even though he is just a Charmander." Dragonite looks towards Draco, Bowser, and Cynder. "You three are welcome to join in as well. A group training session should do wonders for not only us, but yourselves."

Chase looks up at Dragonite, "What about me?"

The Dragonite takes a close look at Chase, seeing something about him that he can't place his claw on, "I'm not sure what training could do for you, but if you insist. I warn you though, dragon-type Pokemon train rough."

Chase smiles a bit, "I will give it all I got."

Dragonite looks over to the other dragons, "Alright, Sala, Gar, Hax, Drei, Gooey, and K-O, lets give these five a good training session. If you can best the seven of us as well Charonus, we will teach you a very important technique to us dragons, the Draco Meteor."

Charonus nods, "Alright then, if you plan on teaching me if I best you, I'm going all out. I just need a moment to prepare."

Charonus stands back near Clair and focuses himself as he sits upon the ground. Clair looks upon this with curiosity as a flame swirls around Charonus.

"Hmmm, what is this Charmander doing?" Clair says aloud.

Chase, Draco, Cynder, and Bowser recognize this instantly, knowing that he is going into his dreamform again.

Charonus dreamform self forms up and stands with his friends. This change intrigues Dragonite greatly.

"I see now, you really are Charzen's child. He did the same thing when he came to me as a Charmeleon." Dragonite takes a closer look at Charonus' dreamzard form, taking note of his eyes again, seeing the different colored irises. "And it looks like you are not fighting alone."

Clair looks and sees what Dragonite sees. She thinks to herself. " _This could get a little dangerous...he's combining his outer and inner self for this training. The last Pokemon I heard about that took on this was split into 3 seperate parts..the Yin, the side of darkness. The Yang, the side of light, and the one left over, the shell that contained the two. I hope Charonus knows what he is doing._ "

Clair and the other dragon Pokemon watch as the training gets under way. Dragonite and his group wait for Charonus' group to make a move. Charonus' group does the same until Chase leaps out and strikes Gar on the arm with a Crunch attack. Gar looks at the Houndoom and shakes him off and quickly retorts with a Dragon Claw attack, but is blocked by Bowsers stout shell. After this initial attack sequence the groups split off into two instances of 2 versus 3 leaving Dragonite and Charonus to train with one another.

Bowser stands by Chase to train with Gar, Sala, and Drei.

Bowser looks down at his Houndoom friend, "Stay close to me and try to follow my instructions. My shell will protect you but only if you don't leap into danger."

Chase nods and waits and watches as Bowser takes the initiative with a Whirling Fortress towards Gar and Drei. Sala, sensing this opening heads towards Chase with a quick Aerial Ace. Chase tries to avoid the strike, but Sala keeps on his tail. When all seems lost, Chase prepares for the hit, but Bowser saves him in the nick of time, taking the hit instead. Bowser grits his teeth in pain, but turns back and attacks with a quick Koopa Klaw attack managing to strike Sala squarely on the chest. Bowser then grabs hold of Sala and slams her into the ground hard, knocking her out of the training.

Bowser looks at the other two, "That is one down. Chase, focus on Gar, I'll take on Drei."

Chase nods as he focuses his gaze on Gar and waits for Gar's movements. Gar strikes swiftly with another Dragon Claw attack that narrowly misses Chase. Chase comes back with another Crunch attack, this time striking squarely on Gar's leg. Gar tries to shake Chase off, but Chase is clamped on tight. As this continues, out of the corner of Chase's eye he sees Bowser get tossed and knocked out. Chase loses his focus and Gar shakes Chase off finally. Gar and Drei surround Chase and prepare to strike. As Chase stands there, fearful for Bowser's and his own safety, something snaps within him. He looks up at Gar and Drei with a frosty cold look in his eyes as he takes aim at both of them, seemingly with his body on autopilot. Gar and Drei look on at this and make their attack, but before they can strike with a combined Dragon Claw attack, Chase lets out a powerful Blizzard that freezes them both on the spot. Chase snaps out of this autopilot mode and drops to the ground unconsious.

While Bowser and Chase begin their training, Draco and Cynder square off against Hax, Gooey, and K-O. Cynder studies the three closely taking note of the axe like protrusions alongside Hax's head, the slime like body of Gooey, and the strange scales adorning K-O's body.

She looks over to Draco, "These three seem quite formidable. Take care when going up against Hax and Gooey...K-O I'm still unsure about though, but something about his scales has me worried."

The pair soon finds out how dangerous K-O's scales are as they start clanging together. It's Clanging Scales attack takes hold and makes Cynder and Draco lower their guard as Hax and Gooey start their own attacks. Hax takes aim at Draco as he uses a furious Slash attack against the Charizard, but Cynder is able to knock Hax back with a Plasma Burst before he strikes.

Cynder looks back at Draco, "Draco, we must take out K-O first, or we won't be able to defend ourselves. His scales lower our guard when they emit sound."

Draco nods and takes aim at K-O, but Hax and Gooey regroup in front of him. Gooey strikes out quickly with a Power Whip attack, hoping to take one of them down, but Draco and Cynder scatter away. The pair try to regroup, but the teamwork of Hax, Gooey, and K-O seems too much. Draco starts to doubt that they can best the trio, but Cynder, still studying them as they battle notices a weakness. She takes aim with an unfocused Plasma Burst at Gooey's and Hax's feet and blinds them with the smokescreen she throws up.

Cynder yells out to Draco, "Strike now Draco. Give K-O everything you have!"

Draco nods, then rushes towards K-O with blinding speed and squarely hits him in the gut with an Aerial Slash attack followed by a Seismic Toss, instantly taking the strange scaled dragon out of the match. At the same time Cynder is able to draw near to Hax and hit him with a point blank Plasma burst to knock him out as well. Gooey, unsure of what to do loses focus on the situation for a moment and winds up walking into the path of Chase's Blizzard attack in that very instant and gets herself locked in ice as well.

"I won't be going easy on you Charonus. I hope you know that. This will be the same training that I gave Charzen those many years ago. To be honest, there is something in your eyes that tells me that you are ready for this." Dragonite gets prepared to test Charonus.

Charonus nods, "I'm ready whenever you are Dragonite."

Dragonite smiles, "Then lets train. First one pushed out of this circle here that we stand in loses. There is nothing off limits. Use all of your abilities to their fullest."

Charonus replies, "Understood."

Clair watches the pair closely, interested in how this will play out.

Dragonite starts with a surprizingly quick Hyper Beam attack which catches Charonus off guard, but Charonus is able to get out of the way quickly enough.

Charonus stands back up after dodging, "He really isn't playing around...this is going to be tough."

Charon speaks into his mind, "That is why you called on me, isn't it. You have a plan in mind?"

Charonus speaks back to his inner Charizard, "Yeah Charon, I do. Get prepared and attack on my mark. We shall devide and conquer under the guise of illusion."

Dragonite keeps close watch on Charonus and waits while preparing another Hyper Beam.

Charonus looks up at Dragonite and enacts his plan, "Can you find me and hit me with the Hyper Beam?" Charonus uses Double Team, splitting himself into several illusory clones, but there is a twist hidden inside this ruse. Dragonite strikes at one of the illusory clones with a full power Hyper Beam attack hoping to strike Charonus, but misses again. Charonus comes close to Dragonite from behind while Dragonite watches a clone rush towards him wielding a Shadow Claw attack. Dragonite braces himself and gets struck, but he feels something odd about it as he feels two seperate strikes. Dragonite collapses to his knees feeling the effects of both a Shadow Claw and Ice Fang.

"H-how...how are there two seperate strikes?" Dragonite calls out to Charonus as he looks up at him. He gazes upon a strange sight that makes him do a double take as he sees two Charizards stand before him.

Charonus prepares another strike, "It is because there are two Charizards...this is a dangerous move for me to try, but as you said, there are no limits."

Charon looks at Dragonite, "We trust eachother to be safe in this technique. The dark and the light are one but seperate forces within this Charmander."

Dragonite looks up at the twin Charizards and smiles, "So...just like the Taoist dragons of legend in Unova, you have gained balance of the Yin and Yang as well...I hope you never lose it, or you may wind up as that dragon has. I would hate to see you fight with yourself. I concede to you this day."

Charonus stops his attack and recombines with Charon once more, "Wait...I thought..."

Dragonite shakes his head, "You win Charonus."

Dragonite stands up and looks around to see how the others fare and sees Chase unleash his Blizzard attack. He is surprized that a Houndoom can use a ice type attack.

Clair sees this as well and quickly stops the training session, taking a couple Ice Heals that she has on hand to thaw out the frozen dragons, "How does a Houndoom know Blizzard?"

Charonus looks at Chase and sees the icy glow in his eyes fade and watches as he falls to the ground. He rushes over to his Houndoom friend and waits for him to regain consciousness.

Chase wakes several moments later and looks at Charonus, "W-what happened...last thing I remember is seeing Bowser get tossed aside by Drei, then nothing until now..."

Bowser looks over at Chase, "You beat three of the other dragons Chase. How could you not have noticed?"

Clair looks at Bowser, "Maybe something deep inside took hold...I may have no connection to non dragons, but in that split instant I felt a dragon's spirit within your Houndoom friend. Anyway, we can ponder this as we rest for the evening."

Dragonite looks at everyone here, "Indeed, this has been tough training today for all of us. Tomorrow as promised I will teach Draco Meteor to Charonus."

Charonus returns with Charon to his Charmander body and they prepare for the next day.

As the group trains with the dragons of the den in Blackthorn , several other events take place within Johto.

Near the Dark Cave area of Johto, Lugia wakes to the sight of being surrounded by a large contingent of Rocket Grunts who have caught the legendary avian within a net.

The leader of the Rocket grunts gets onto a walkie talkie, "We have the avian Lugia. What should we do Admin Petril?"

A voice comes on over the walkie talkie, "Prepare Lugia for transport to Kanto and await further instruction."

The Rocket grunt responds, "Affirmative." He orders the group to prepare for Lugia's transport. Meanwhile in Ecruteak City, Ho-oh fully recovers from his battle with Shadow Lugia and senses that his avian friend Lugia is in trouble. Ho-oh bursts forth from the Tin Tower and is instantly at where Lugia has fallen. Ho-oh washes over the area with his Sacred Fire, driving off the Rocket grunts and burning the net Lugia was caught in. Lugia looks up at Ho-oh like he's seen a ghost and quickly passes out again.

"Rest my friend and get your strength back. We're going to need you at your best soon..."

On the path between Cherrygrove and New Bark Town, Butch and Cassidy go on their way to meet with the admins at Tojho falls. They converse about what the admins told them about a group of Pokemon encountering the Gyarados at the Lake of Rage and the coming trap that will be set for them along the way and happen to walk past a red haired boy. Butch and Cassidy pay the boy no mind as they continue on their way.

The boy who listened in wonders to himself about the Charmander and his group and decides to shadow the pair, following them to Tojho falls as well in the hopes to maybe aid the Charmander somehow. " _The old man won't have his way if I can help it...consider this my redemption for my past..._ "

Upon Mount Silver Shadow Lugia roosts at it's apex, still in deep conversation with Shadow Mewtwo who now resides in his mind, "You're right...I hate this plan. It takes too much time."

Shadow Mewtwo speaks in Shadow Lugia's mind, " _Yes, but it will be well worth it in the end. Patience is a virtue my friend and this sacrifice will work out in the end. Take control of the little ones darkness and we will have the power to rule as we see fit._ "

Shadow Lugia scoffs, "This sacrifice seems too great. You better be right about this or I will eclipse your mind, never to be seen again!" Shadow Lugia closes his eyes and waits for the Charmander and his group that is sure to come.

In Tojho falls, Giovanni, Jessie, and James with Meowth wait for the Johto Admins.

Archer is the first to arrive. "Ah, Giovanni sir. You are looking as well as can be, given your circumstance."

Giovanni glares at Archer, "I trust everything is set for that Charmander's arrival Archer."

Archer responds, "Absolutely Giovanni sir. The Charmander and his group must come through here to reach Mount Silver where he shall encounter us. It is only a matter of capturing the Charmander to take on Shadow Lugia. The rest can be discarded."

Giovanni smiles at this as he sees the other admins arrive as well, "That Charmander's power. It will be mine, then the world will be mine as well!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 15: Giovanni's Defeat and Ominous Words**

As the rest of the group sleeps with the dragons in the Dragon's Den, Clair and Cynder stay up to converse about things overnight.

Cynder looked at Clair, "I must say, it's very impressive how you're one of the few humans and non-Pokemon in this world who can approach dragons. I should introduce you sometime to my friend and mentor Blaze the Cat."

Clair's eyes widened with surprise. "Blaze the Cat?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's from my world and she has the ability to approach dragons too," replied Cynder. "I think you guys would get along great."

"Still, I wonder who she is," said Clair. "Is she some kind of cat Pokemon like a Meowth?"

"No, she's not a Pokemon," said Cynder. "She's just a cat with fire powers, which helps her have a link with dragons."

Clair smiles, "Your world sounds really interesting Cynder. Maybe sometime if the gods allow I might take you up on this."

Cynder smiles as well, "I just know that Blaze would like meeting you as well."

Some time later Clair looks over towards Charonus and Chase who are sleeping together and gets somewhat lost in thought.

Cynder notices this and speaks up, "Clair, what are you thinking about?"

Clair snaps back from her thoughts, "Oh...I was just thinking about what I witnessed during the training earlier. A Houndoom using an ice attack, and a dragon like spirit...and Charonus using his inner and outer self. Doesn't this seem kind of odd to you?"

Cynder thinks for a bit, "I guess so. These things have only recently come to light in our travels in Johto."

Clair sighs, "I see...but these abilities seem dangerous...almost like a legend that I heard of that has been passed down between human and Pokemon from the Unova region. It states that hundreds of years ago, there was a dragon that contained a balance of truth and ideals within it. One day the dragon suddenly split, the balance within becoming lost due to infighting between two brothers. One wanting to use the dragons power to build a world of truths, and the other a world of ideals. There were three separate dragons that formed from this split, Zekrom the Dark Thunder of Ideals, Reshiram the Light Fire of Truth, and Kyurem the Grey Ice of Emptyness. These three make up the Tao trio of the region. Reports as of late though have stated that the ice dragon Kyurem is missing and the other two are in hiding."

Chase stirs in his sleep and murmers something, but then starts snoring.

Cynder takes this story in and thinks a moment, "What does this have to do with Charonus then?"

Clair responds, "His ability seems kind of like the ability of the combined dragon of Unova. The dark Yin and the light Yang...if unbalanced it could result in a split like the Unovan dragon. I hope he takes care and keeps his balance in check."

Cynder and Clair talk with eachother until morning when the others start to wake.

Draco looks around and spots Cynder and Clair, "Have you two been up all night?"

Cynder laughs a bit, "Yeah, I guess so. Clair and I just started talking and before you know it it's morning."

Draco sighs, "Cynder...you do that too often..."

Charonus slowly sits up and rubs his eyes, "Anyone got any grub around here?"

Dragonite looks over at the young Charmander and laughs, "Yes, of course. Can't start the day without a good breakfast."

Clair laughs as well, "Just like a dragon to think with their gut."

Some of the other dragons laugh as well.

Dragonite and some of the other dragons prepare some food that they keep around in the den for them. Surprisingly there is a wide assortment of food from all over Johto for all to enjoy. While the group has their meal they start talking about their plans for the day.

"So, what is your groups plan now?" Clair asks Charonus.

Charonus sighs and looks down, "We are going to make our way to Mount Silver again...I fear that is where Shadow Lugia has crashed. He is the one that is bringing a dark cloud over the Johto area. He must be stopped."

Clair looks down as well, "Just like the dark clouds that hung over Kanto not too long ago?"

Charonus responds, "The very same. I just hope I'm prepared to face the shadows again..."

Bowser pats his Charmander friend on the back, "You have us, remember. We got your back Charonus."

Charonus smiles as he looks up at Bowser, "Thank you Bowser, you as well Draco, Chase, and Cynder."

Clair looks up as she remembers something, "I almost forgot. I need to go see my cousin Lance today. He said it was something important."

Cynder smiles, "Then why don't you join us. We could all go there together."

Clair smiles, "That would be a great idea. I'll go get ready and meet you guys back here."

Dragonite and a fierce seahorse looking Pokemon speak up, "We are coming too Clair."

Clair responds, "Huh? Why do you two want to come."

Dragonite speaks up, "If what the Charmander says is true, then there will be danger on the way to Indigo Plateau and the surrounding area. Let us protect you along the way."

Clair nods, "Thanks guys, It will be nice to have you two come with us."

Dragonite smiles, "Then while you prepare, we will prepare Charonus and teach him Draco Meteor before we depart. It shouldn't take too long."

The group prepares to leave as well with Draco and Bowser stocking up on some extra provisions making Cynder sigh a little bit. As they do this, Charonus prepares himself to get taught Draco Meteor from the seven dragons that took part in the training session the previous day. Two hours go by and everyone is prepared to leave and Charonus is able to have a working Draco Meteor for himself. Charonus promises Dragonite to practice and get better at the move before using it in a real fight.

Clair returns to the den, "Everybody set and ready to go Dragonite and Kingdra?"

Dragonite responds, "Yeah, lets get going. Don't want to keep your cousin waiting."

Clair laughs and turns to go out of the den. The group plus Dragonite and Kingdra follow behind soon reaching the exit.

Clair turns to the group, "It may take a while, but if we hurry we can get to the plateau before evening. If we make it to New Bark Town by afternoon we should make good time to the Reception Gate."

Charonus sighs a bit but knows that it does take a bit to get from area to area. The group begins their trek down Route 45, conversing amongst themselves not knowing that they are now being watched by a group of Rocket grunts hiding nearby.

The leader grunt radios in to Archer at Tojho Falls, "This is Red Leader to Archer, the group is on the move and they have company with them."

Archer answers back, "What company?"

The grunt responds, "It looks like the Blackthorn Gym leader and two of her Pokemon. A Dragonite and a Kingdra."

Archer orders the grunt, "Keep hidden and watch them carefully. I want to know why Clair is there with them."

The grunt replies, "Understood."

Archer turns to Giovanni, "We may have a slight problem sir. Clair of the Blackthorn Gym is on her way with the Charmander group. What do you want to do about this?"

Giovanni smiles, "It matters not who comes. All that concerns me is the Charmander. Let them come and be put down like the dogs that they are."

Ariana is taken back by Giovanni's attitude, but she doesn't let it show on her face, " _I have never seen him like this...something has changed in him ever since that Charmander burned him..._ "

Archer looks over at Proton and Petril, "You two, keep watch for Butch and Cassidy. They are due to be here any moment."

Jessie looks slightly annoyed, "What? Why are those two coming here?"

James tries to calm Jessie, "Now Jess, this is not the time to be losing your cool."

Ariana smiles, knowing of Jessie's disdain of the duo, "Think of it as a group building exersize."

Jessie sighs a bit, "Alright, just this once but after this I hope to never see their faces ever again..."

Butch and Cassidy reach the entry to Tohjo Falls an hour after passing New Bark Town still talking about what they have heard about the Charmander group.

"So, this Charmander was said to have been the one to torch the boss' legs?" Butch asks Cassidy.

"Yeah Biff. From what I heard from the Admins, it was pretty bad." Cassidy answers back.

Butch gets slightly annoyed at Cassidy calling him the wrong name again, but lets it slide just this once, "A Charmander couldn't possibly be that strong. Seriously, being able to permanently injure a man as the boss of Team Rocket. It just seems impossible."

Cassidy sighs, "I know what you mean, but this is what I heard from Admin Petril."

The red haired boy continues to shadow Butch and Cassidy as they enter the Tojho Falls area. He keeps thinking to himself about how he may stop Giovanni in this plan to capture the Charmander. He decides to head back to New Bark Town and wait until the group arrives and warn them. Two hours pass by while he waits, but eventually the group arrives in New Bark Town. Charonus looks around at the first town and remembers his meeting with the Pokemon Professor of the Johto region here. While he is lost in thought again, the red haired boy comes over to the group.

Clair sees the boy and smiles a bit, "Oh, hey there Silver. Long time, no see."

Silver speaks up, "Huh, Clair? What are you doing with this group of Pokemon?"

Charonus hears Silver's voice and a chill goes down his spine. He turns to look at Silver and holds on tight to Bowser's shell. "It's him...the one that makes me feel as if I'm looking at the leader of Team Rocket..."

Clair looks at Charonus with worry, "It's ok Charonus, Silver won't hurt you. He's a good friend of mine."

Silver sighs a bit, "It's alright Clair...I guess that Charmander can see that I have a connection to my old man...That is the reason I'm here before you now."

Cynder raises an eye ridge, "What do you mean Silver?"

Silver responds, "A plan by the Admins of Team Rocket here have set a trap in Tohjo Falls for your group. They want to capture your Charmander friend for their uses. I won't stand by while my old man wants to harm others for his own gain."

Draco sighs, "But we have to go through there to get to Mount Silver..."

Silver looks down, "Then you will need help. I have felt the shadows gathering as well in Johto, and they surround my old man..."

The group discusses their plan as they get closer to Tojho Falls. Charonus keeps an eye on Silver, still a little apprehensive about the red haired boy.

Jessie and James with Butch and Cassidy keep an eye out for the group so they can spring the trap they have waiting for them. They start to hear the sounds of footsteps shuffle through the cave.

Butch looks over to Archer, "Admin archer, the group is getting closer sir."

Archer smiles, "Excellent, spring the trap when they are here."

Butch nods as he and the others continue to wait.

Giovanni has a big grin on his face. He laughs sadistically. "The moment has arrived. Soon Team Rocket will be the most powerful organization the Pokeworld has ever seen."

The group continues on their way deeper into the falls, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly they hear laughing all around them. A laugh which even shakes Silver to his core.

Silver thinks to himself, " _He's even further gone then I thought...we must put an end to his schemes here and now..._ "

Bowser shakes a bit as he hears that laugh, "That is even creepier than a Boo's laugh...such malice in his voice."

Cynder sighs, "The laughter of a man who has gone too far towards darkness...he may be irredeemable."

Silver looks at Cynder, "I know...and I accept that. That is why we must stop him now."

The group steps into a large chamber and look around, seeing nothing of importance. Suddenly they feel the ground shake beneath them as metal plates seem to rise out of nowhere and surround the group. A light goes on in this space and the group comes face to face with Giovanni and the Johto Team Rocket Admins.

"I welcome you my little Charmander. The one that will give me power over this world." Giovanni smiles as he looks at the group and spots Silver, "Ah, and look who else is here. You brought my prize right to me. Are you reconsidering joining my organization then?"

Silver looks upon Giovanni with disdain, "No. I'm here to aid the Charmander. I will not allow you to use others for your own gain. Your tyranny ends here old man!"

Giovanni scowls, "Hmph, such wasted potential. I'm disappointed in you my failure of a son!" Giovanni then looks to his admins, "Capture the Pokemon and toss the humans aside. If the Pokemon resist, get rid of them as well. We only need their Pokecores."

Archer looks at Giovanni, "What about the Charmander?"

Giovanni smiles, "Leave him to me. I have a debt that needs to be repaid."

Archer looks at Jessie, James, Butch and Cassidy, "You four, deal with Clair and Silver."

The four nod and get ready to battle as instructed as the admins themselves get ready to capture Charonus' group.

Charonus looks towards Giovanni and sees the shadows that surround him. Shadows caused by a man who has gone completely to darkness. "I must make it through this...I will not be a pawn to this man."

Giovanni smiles, "Oh but you will in time my little Charmander. Now go Nidoking and Nidoqueen, bring me the Charmander!"

Charonus gets shooken up, not only by the fact that Giovanni has sent out two powerful Pokemon to battle him, but that Giovanni understood what he said. "The shadows have warped him to this point?" Charonus stares down this trial of life and death before him and readies himself.

Bowser, Chase, Cynder, and Draco try to rush to Charonus' side, but are blocked by the four admins who split them up with their own Pokemon.

"Not so fast, you will be dealing with us while our boss claims his prize." Archer says as he stares down the clothed dragon and Charizard before him, "My Gyarados and Houndoom along with Ariana's Honchkrow and Vileplume should be enough to deal with you two while Proton and Petril deal with your other friends."

Draco yells out, "Hang in ther Charonus. Keep yourself calm."

Cynder scowls at Archer, "You won't get what you want. We will emerge victorious from this!"

Ariana laughs at Cynder, "Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but you will not be leaving here unscathed."

Clair looks over at Silver, "Will you be able to handle this Silver?"

Silver smiles, "Yeah, they are just the flunkies after all."

Clair sighs. "Don't get overconfident Silver."

Silver simply nods and sends out his Feraligatr and Crobat.

Jessie looks at Cassidy, "You take the gym leader. We will take on the boy."

Cassidy scowls a bit, "Fine, but you will owe us one if you lose."

Both teams send out their Pokemon. Arbok and Weezing for Jessie and James, and Mightyena and Granbull for Butch and Cassidy. The groups split to battle against their respective opponent.

Jessie and James stare down Silver and wait for his first move.

Silver looks at their Pokemon with disdain, wanting to get things done quickly. He orders his Feraligatr to do a Earthquake attack on Arbok while he orders his Crobat to perform Zen Headbutt on Weezing. Jessie orders her Arbok to quickly retort with a Rock Slide on the Crobat, then jump onto Weezing to avoid the Earthquake while James orders his Weezing to perform a Thunderbolt attack on both the Crobat and Feraligatr. The Crobat takes the most of the damage, getting hit by both attacks and lands on the ground near Silver. Feraligatr on the other hand is able to tank the Thunderbolt attack. Silver tries to get his Crobat back into the battle while he has Feraligatr stay on the defensive by using Agility followed by a Protect. Jessie and James order their Pokemon to take the Feraligatr down, but they didn't know that this was part of Silver's plan. Once close enough Silver orders his Feraligatr to do a combination Bulldoze and Double Ice Punch. Arbok gets hit hard with the Bulldoze followed by one of the Ice Punches and sent flying back into Jessie. This one two punch manages to take the Arbok out of the battle. The Weezing on the other hand tanks the other Ice Punch and retorts with a close range thunderbolt that drops the Feraligatr to its knees with Paralysis. Silver sees this and quickly sends his Crobat out again with a quick Zen Headbutt that this time manages to hit squarely on the Weezing and knocks it out. Silver runs over and checks on his Feraligatr to make sure its alright.

Meowth can be heard chastizing Jessie and James, "You two are worthless. Losing like that in front of da boss..."

While Silver battles it out with Jessie and James, Clair stares down Butch and Cassidy.

"It's not every day that a gym leader happens to come out of their hidey holes." Butch teases with a sneer as he sends out a Mightyena.

"I know, this should be quite fun." Cassidy playfully teases and sends out a Granbull.

"You two don't know who you're messing with do you? I am the Dragon Master Clair, and I will show you how wrong it was to mess with me and this group of Pokemon." Clair snarls back at the duo.

Clair decides to start off quickly by having Dragonite use Extreme Speed on the Granbull while Kingdra stays back and launches a Hydro Pump at the Mightyena. The Granbull waits for the attack, and when the Dragonite gets close enough it uses a Play Rough attack. The Dragonite gets surprised and takes the full force of the attack, dropping down to its knee. The Kingdra also runs into a similar problem when the Mightyena launches a Hyper Beam right back at it, but the Kingdra manages to get out of the way in time.

"Not so easy huh. You won't take us down so easily." Cassidy smiles as she orders her Granbull on the offensive with an Outrage attack on the Dragonite, "Take that dragon down Granbull!"

Dragonite barely has enough time to get up and evade before Granbull attacks. Dragonite regains its composure and retorts with an Earthquake attack that manages to hit its mark and shake the Granbull off its feet. Kingdra, seeing its friend in danger, launches a powerful Hydro Pump at the Granbull and manages to hit the mark and knock it out.

Cassidy huffs, "Come on Butch, it's all up to you now!" She retrieves her Granbull and waits for Butch to put the dragon gym leader away.

Butch scowls, "You haven't won yet. Mightyena, Iron Tail the Kingdra!"

Getting caught off guard, the Kingdra takes the full force of the Iron Tail and is quickly knocked out, much to Clair's dismay. She looks over to her Dragonite and simply nods. Dragonite looks back over to the Mightyena and uses Extreme Speed again and quickly knocks the Mightyena down before Butch is able to give another command. The Dragonite then follows up with a devastating Draco Meteor to take care of the Mightyena.

Butch looks on this in shock, "W-what the...that was too much."

Cassidy looks in disbelief, "So ruthless..."

Clair smiles, "I told you I would show you not to mess with me. Now, out of the way!"

Bowser and Chase stare down the two Rocket Admins in front of them. Without a word the pair releases their Pokemon into battle. Proton's Zubat and Koffing stare down Chase while Petril's Golbat and Raticate take aim at Bowser.

"Not battling with yourselves against us, how annoying." Bowser scoffs.

"Why should we when Pokemon can do the work for us. It is the strong that will subdue the weak and use them for their own ends." Proton sneers.

"People like you make me sick. I'll teach you a lesson personally." Bowser says in anger.

"We shall see you funny looking Blastoise." Proton smiles as he sends his Koffing out to use a Smog attack. Petril follows with his Golbat using aConfuse Ray, hopefully confusing one or both of their opponents.

Bowser manages to use Whirling Fortress to blow the poisonous Smog back towards the other way, but while he recovers from his move, he gets hit with the Confuse Ray.

Chase heads over to his friend, "Bowser, are you alright?"

Bowser looks towards his friend with a dizzy expression on his face, then falls over.

Chase looks at the opposing Pokemon angrily, "How dare you do this to my friend!"

Proton just stares at Chase, "I can see that you are mad, but you are barking at someone who doesn't care. Not like I could understand you anyway, heh."

Chase gets more furious and lashes out at Proton's Zubat with a Thunder Fang attack, quickly taking it down.

Petril's smile turns into a frown, "Never let your guard down Proton. You should know how ruthless Houndoom are. Now get your head back into the game."

Chase stares down Proton's other Pokemon and takes aim. Proton orders his Koffing to hit Chase with a Double Hit followed by a Sludge attack, hoping that the Koffing can poison the Houndoom.

Bowser in the meantime slowly gets to his feet and shakes the confusion off. He assesses the situation and determines to go after Petril's Pokemon.

Petril sees this and acts by ordering his Raticate to use Sucker Punch, managing to hit Bowser before he attacks. Bowser slides back and spots the Golbat hovering over him. He takes the advantage and Bowser Bombs the Golbat quickly before it notices and tosses it at the Raticate. The Golbat, slamming into the Raticate, accidentally bites it deeply and gets stuck to it's body much to the annoyance of Petril. Petril recalls his Golbat and orders his Raticate to attack Bowser with Hyper Fang. Bowser avoids the attack and quickly retorts with a Koopa Klaw and manages to send the Raticate back to its owner.

Chase sets his sights on this and uses a Flamethrower to take the Koffing out, but miscalculates and sends it into Bowser where it promptly explodes and knocks both the Koffing and Bowser out.

Chase runs over to Bowser, "I-I'm sorry Bowser...I messed up..."

Bowser groans in pain, "It's fine. I'll bounce back quick, but please be careful with your power next time..."

Draco and Cynder stare down Archer and Ariana as well as their four Pokemon. A chill runs down both of their spines as they feel the power the four Pokemon display.

Ariana looks at the pair, "What's wrong? Afraid of our Pokemon? And here I thought that you two were powerful. You certainly look the part."

Archer speaks, "A test is in order to see if they will be worth to be used by us, or cast aside like rubbish. Go Houndoom, use a Feint Attack on the dragon type!"

Houndoom does as ordered, running towards Cynder at lightning speed but Draco steps in the way just in time to take the hit instead.

Draco smiles through clenched teeth, "That is for earlier Cynder...ow..."

Cynder sighs, "Draco, be more careful. Now is not the time to play around."

Archer eyes the pair closely and waits for an opportunity. He motions to Ariana to attack with her Vileplume while he takes aim with his Gyarados. Ariana simply nods, then orders her Vileplume to use Petal Blizzard that surrounds Draco and Cynder. Archer smiles as he orders his Gyarados to use Fire Blast to strike the Petal Blizzard and make it roar into a massive inferno. Draco and Cynder try to evade the paired attack, but they are too slow and get caught in the ensuing chaos. Cynder looks for a way out, keeping her calm, but she can tell the longer it takes, the more damage the pair sustain.

"Cynder, is there a way out of here?" Draco says worredly.

"Keep calm Draco and focus. Look around for an opening and focus your attacks on it." Cynder says back.

Draco tries to calm himself and looks around. He notices gaps in the flame tornado that they are caught in. "Cynder, I think I see it. Over there."

Cynder smiles, "That's it Draco. Time to power through." She takes aim with a Plasma Burst and Draco charges a Fire Blast of his own. The pair fire off their attacks and manage to disperse the combined Gyarados and Vileplume attack, also inadvertantly striking the nearby Honchkrow who was hovering and waiting for the pairs emergence and knocking it out.

Ariana frowns, "How dare you take out my Pokemon like that!"

Archer stands firm, "Ariana, stay calm. It is only a slight setback."

Ariana nods and regroups with her Vileplume. The duo decides to perform another double attack against Draco and Cynder, this time hitting them with combined status moves. Archer orders his Gyarados to use Thunder Wave while Ariana has her Vileplume use Sleep Powder. Due to Draco and Cynder taking as much damage as they have, they get caught in the duo attack and get paralyzed and put to sleep.

Archer laughs at this, "So much for these two. Now to wait for Giovanni to claim his prize."

As Charonus stares down the twin Nidos in front of him, fear begins to enter his mind. "T-these Pokemon...they look so powerful...I'm afraid of them." Charonus decides to try and run for it, but the Nidoking and Nidoqueen surround him, cutting off all avenues of escape.

Giovanni laughs at this showing, "Come on small one. Where is the fire that you showed me on Cinnabar. Show me the dark fire in your core or perish!"

Charonus stops cold and curls up, but a wisp of something starts to form around him. This piques Giovanni's interest. He orders his Nidos to attack in tandem, Nidoking with Thunderbolt and Nidoqueen with Ice Beam.

Charon, seeing that Charonus is fearful, decides to become the dominant one, "Let me take care of this Charonus. When you are ready, please join me. Take your time and bring your balance back. That is the only way we will get past this."

Charon looks towards the two attacks and brushes them aside with a flash of aura, taking on his Charizard appearance.

"So, the Charizard self has come to play. All the better for me. Give me a good show!" Giovanni smiles and laughs maniacally. "Time to step it up my Nido twins. Bring me the Charmander or his core. It matters not!"

The Nidos attack Charon with all their might again with a combined Superpower and Earth Power attack, but Charon knocks the two back and sets up a Light Screen and Reflect to hopefully survive for longer. The Nidos retort with a combination Thunder and Blizzard, managing to crack Charon's barriers and knocking him down to a knee.

Charonus from inside his mind sees all that is happening and gets more worried, "W-what can I do...I'm so afraid of these two Pokemon and I don't know why."

A voice from behind him calls out, "What you can do is balance your mind. Don't let the fear take over and cloud your judgement."

Another voice calls out, "You have tto remember all that you have been through already. Let that be your guide. Now stand up our son and face your fear."

Charonus listens to the voices and sheds a tear. He slowly stands up and wipes the tear away. "Mom...dad...you're right. I'm letting my fear get the best of me. I need to push through like I have done so many times before..." Charonus gathers his thoughts and takes a deep breath. He then steps forth to stand side by side with Charon and take the fight to the Nidos.

The Nidoking and Nidoqueen charge up for another attack, planning again to use another combo Thunder and Blizzard attack. Charon and Charonus, once again of one mind, plan to use a combo of their own. Charonus and Charon gather the energy needed in their shared bodys claws and let loose with a combined Solarbeam and Icebeam at the twin Nidos with all of their strength, hoping to overcome their power. The four attacks collide against one another, but it soon becomes apparent that Charon and Charonus are losing the struggle and in a big explosion, they get knocked to the ground.

Giovanni laughs again, "Is that all. I thought that you would put up more of a fight. Time to finish this. Nidoking, Nidoqueen, use Cross Horn Drill!"

The twin Nidos line up on either side of Charonus and take aim, waiting for him to stand. Charonus slowly gets up, not knowing this attack is on its way. The Nidos make their move and manage to squarely hit Charonus with their moves and instanly take the Charmander out and revert him into his normal form.

"Bring the Charmander to me at once!" Giovanni sneers in delight.

Chase looks up and sees how everyone else is faring. He hears Giovanni call out to his Nidos to use their final attack. He watches as Charonus is struck and falls limp on the ground and revert to his Charmander self. Chase yells out for his friend and starts to run towards him. Everything in that moment becomes blurred as the similar feeling from before takes hold of Chase once again.

Chase stops just before reaching Charonus and looks at the twin Nidos with icy blue eyes. A strange voice comes from the Houndoom as he speaks. "Get away from my friend or face my wrath."

Clair, who looks up for a moment, suddenly sees Chase and surprisingly understands him, "It's that feeling from before. What is happening here?"

Chase steps closer to the Nidos, "Get away from my Charmander friend NOW!"

Giovanni looks at the houndoom with disdain, "What is this friendship to you. Friendship, ha, what a laughable concept." He orders his Nidos to attack the Houndoom before him."

Chase keeps his gaze on the Nidos and brushes them aside with his tail once they get close. "You will leave my friends alone, or be swallowed by the emptyness of my power!"

Giovanni keeps laughing crazily. "You amuse me. You have power? Show me."

Chase locks eyes with Giovanni as he senses the Nidos come at him again, "So be it. You have brought this upon yourself. Erupt from the ground and consume all in everlasting nothingness. Glaciate!"

In a flash, the battlefield erupts in ice spears from all over, knocking down the walls of the trap and freezing the Nidos in place. The attack makes its way over to Giovanni who simply laughs it off, but Jessie and James quickly run to their boss and get him out of the way.

Giovanni continues to laugh eventhough it looks like he lost, "Another with such power. Will wonders never cease. I may have lost today, but I promise you I will be back someday. Like a rainbow after a heavy rain, my Team Rocket shall shine brightly again in the future!" Giovanni is quickly taken away by Jessie and James as the rest of Team Rocket quickly escape with them. Chase loses the icy glow in his eyes and falls to the ground unconscious. Clair and Silver run over to the group to check on everyone and heal them. It takes most of the day and the rest of the night to make sure that everyone is alright.

Charonus, Draco, Cynder, Bowser, and Chase waken the next day and look around and see the pilliars of ice around as well as the two Nidos still frozen in ice.

Charonus looks at Clair, "W-what happened?"

Clair sighs, "It's a long story, but rest for now, and later I think you should thank Chase."

The group converses with eachother for the rest of the morning, knowing that they escaped one threat, but one still looms nearby atop Mount Silver.


	16. Chapter 16

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 16: Return to Silver and the Shadows Last Stand**

Lance stands impatiently in the Reception Gate waiting for his cousin Clair.

He checks the time again, "She has kept me waiting for more than a day...and the presense I have been feeling at Mount Silver has been getting stronger. How much longer am I going to have to wait?"

A Dragonite that stands beside him senses his irritability but keeps quiet while thinking to himself, " _I do hope Clair gets here soon. I hate to see Lance so irritated._ "

Lance looks at his Dragonite partner, "I guess it can't be helped. Let's go check the area. Maybe she is at Tojho Falls."

The Dragonite nods and follows Lance.

Clair looks at the group, then she remembers something, "Oh no! I totally forgot about my meetup with my cousin Lance."

Dragonite sighs, "This whole mess with Team Rocket sure threw us off course. If we tell Lance I think he will understand."

Clair looks at her Dragonite, "I sure hope so...despite how calm he may seem, he gets irritated quite easily if things don't go just right."

Charonus slowly stands up, still a little woosy from his battle with the twin Nidos, "Darn that Giovanni...wanting power for evil. I hope I never see him again."

Silver looks at Charonus and sees the hate in his eyes for Giovanni, "I feel the same way young Charmander. All I have seen from my old man is a lust for power that seems unquenchable. I feel that he is too far gone."

Charonus looks over to Silver, "I may hate the man...but I must keep myself calm and not let my hate consume me...disasterous things have happened when I have let hate take control."

Clair smiles a bit, "Keeping yourself balanced is a good thing to believe in Charonus.

As the group continues talking and getting prepared to leave, they begin to hear footsteps in the distance. Clair tells the group to lay low as her and Dragonite check on the situation.

Lance heads through the area of Tojho Falls feeling a strange chill in the air, "What is this feeling? The falls shouldn't feel this cold at this time of the year. Dragonite, keep your senses sharp for anything out of the ordinary. I have a feeling something may be wrong here."

Lance's Dragonite nods and keeps its eyes trained on the path ahead. As he looks forward, he notices two shapes in the distance coming towards them.

Clair looks around apprehensive as she and her Dragonite look around for the source of the strange footsteps. She motions for her Dragonite to take point and check around.

Dragonite nods and looks up the path as he continues to walk slowly forward. He sees a pair coming into view and recognizes Lance's telltale cape waving in the distance, "Clair, it's your cousin. He must of come looking for you because you didn't show up."

Clair sighs a bit, "I guess so..." She looks out and sees Lance come in to view for herself. She waves towards him, "Hey Lance. Sorry I missed our meeting."

Lance sees his cousin and responds, "You better have a good reason for keeping me waiting Clair. You know how upset I can get if I'm kept waiting."

Clair frowns, "Yeah, you have a dragons temper under that calm exterior of yours, but I do have a good reason for missing the meeting. Come with me and I'll tell you on the way."

The group waits for Clair's return wondering if maybe someone from Team Rocket might still be in the area. They begin to hear voices in the distance, followed by Lance and Clair finally returning.

Lance takes a look around and spots the group, as well as the frozen Nidos, "You were not kidding. By the looks of it, this was the scene of quite the battle."

Cynder looks up at Lance, then asks Clair, "Clair? Who is this with you?"

Clair looks over towards Cynder, "This is my cousin Lance, he is another dragon type trainer and champion of the Pokemon League."

Lance continues to look at the group and thinks back to several months ago to when the dark clouds gathered upon Mount Silver. He managed to speak with the previous champion, Red, with the help of his friend and rival Blue who told him of a group that looks like the ones before him. He looks towards the Charmander in the group, "Little Charmander, are you the one who brought the light back to the mountain months ago?"

Charonus looks over to Lance and nods, "Y-yes...How did you know that, and why do you ask?"

Lance smiles and responds, "A man with a Pikachu told me of a group that matches your description. He was a man of a few words though, but a friend of his was there as well and told me the rest. He said that your group defeated the dark shadows that day. As for why I asked, that is why I am here now and why I wanted to meet with Clair to see if she knew of your groups whereabouts. The shadows cling to Mount Silver once again. Luckily this time there is no barrier over the mountain, so no one will be hurt. We even had to suspend the Pokemon League activities for the time being."

Clair sighs, "I'm not sure that this group can be sent in again, seeing as what took place here. They are going to need help if they do go up there."

Lance looks down, "I agree Clair. For now it looks like the presense on the mountain is docile, maybe waiting for this little one to show. So your group may have time to recouperate. If we get to the Reception Gate, maybe we can get this group the medical attention they need."

As the group is moved to the Reception Gate with the help of Lance, Clair, and Silver, other events continue to take shape.

At the Dark Cave, Ho-oh continues to watch over his friend Lugia, while his three Sacred Beasts keep him updated on Shadow Lugia who is atop Mount Silver.

Suicune reports in to Ho-oh, "Shadow Lugia is awake, but he seems to not be taking any action."

Ho-oh responds, "He has to be plotting something...He should of sensed my presense by now. What could he possibly be up to?"

Suicune sighs, "That I am uncertain of, but he may be waiting for the young Charmander."

Ho-oh sighs as well, "Where is the Charmander's group now?"

Suicune responds solemnly, "I was told by Raikou that he is being carried towards the Reception Gate by three humans...Raikou said that Charonus and his group looked in really bad shape. Something must of happened to him in Tojho Falls."

Ho-oh looks at Suicune, "Three humans? did Raikou recognise any of them?"

Suicune responds, "One was the one who trains with dragons from Blackthorn, another was her relative, as for the third, I don't really know, but he seems to be friends with the other two."

Ho-oh has somewhat of a relieved look on his face, "They are in good hands then. I'm glad."

Lugia starts to stir, then opens his eyes, "Ho-oh..."

Ho-oh looks down at his friend, "I am here. Please don't get up too quickly."

Lugia frowns, "I feel the darkness growing...coming from my brother..."

Ho-oh looks at Lugia in shock, "W-wait...brother? Is Shadow Lugia your brother?"

Lugia nods solemnly, "Yes...and something must be done about him...where is the young Charmander?"

Ho-oh sighs, "I'll tell you, but you may not like it..."

As the two legends converse, Shadow Lugia looks out from his perch on the mountaintop.

"Where is that Charmander? I thought you said he would be on his way here." Shadow Lugia seemingly talks to no one, but is really speaking to Shadow Mewtwo who rests within him.

Shadow Mewtwo responds in Shadow Lugia's mind. " _Another that I did not forsee, one that was tainted by the dark shadows tried to gain control of the Charmander. His efforts were thwarted by one who you changed. The Charmander was badly injured, and if our plan is to succeed, we need him fighting fit._ "

Shadow Lugia questions, "How do you know this? I couldn't sense anything recently."

Shadow Mewtwo sighs, " _It is because your thoughs still wander. You are not focused on our goal. Get back on task and prepare for the Charmanders arrival!_ "

Shadow Lugia relents to the whims of Shadow Mewtwo, knowing full well that what he says is truth. He begins to align his power with Shadow Mewtwo's and begin setting the stage for the Charmanders arrival.

Charonus struggles a bit as he and the group gets help from some on staff Pokecenter nurses.

Clair looks over at Charonus, "Please try to calm yourself...These people are only here to help."

Charonus sighs a bit, "I'll try...but I'm uneasy around most humans..."

Bowser comes over to Charonus after being attended to. "Maybe it would feel better if I stand with you then."

Charonus smiles, "Y-yeah...thanks Bowser." Charonus, with Bowser now by his side is able to calm down somewhat. Charonus looks outside a nearby window and begins to think about his next move. As he watches the skies outside, he sees them darken.

Cynder is watching the skies as she stands outside the building, also thinking of the groups next move. She notices the skies darken as well, "Hmmm, it's too early to get this dark. Shadow Lugia must be making his move."

As Cynder continues to monitor things, the two legends Ho-oh and Lugia streak across the sky to the Reception Gate, landing close to her.

Cynder smiles as she sees the pair, "Lugia, and Ho-oh."

Ho-oh smiles, "Yes, we are here now. How fares the young Charmander?"

Cynder sighs, "He's being tended to by some Pokecenter nurses as we speak...but he took a lot of damage apparently from a twin Nido attack."

Lugia sighs as well, "So that is how he was injured. I too am recovering from my battle with my own brother..."

Cynder frowns a bit, "So we will be facing your brother then..."

Lugia lowers his head, "Yes...but it must be done to restore balance to Johto."

Ho-oh looks towards the mountaintop, "As soon as your group is ready, we shall lend you aid to the top. Let your group know."

Cynder nods, then heads inside and tells them of the plan.

It takes a day, but the group is able to be healed back up to nearly full strength. They head outside to where Lugia and Ho-oh are waiting for them.

Ho-oh looks towards the group, "The time for the showdown with shadows has arrived again. Lugia and myself will aid you as best as we can."

Charonus looks at Ho-oh with worry, "I wouldn't want you two to get hurt...maybe you should stay back and let us handle this."

Lugia sighs, "If it were only that easy. I'm afraid with Shadow Mewtwo's and Shadow Lugia's combined powers, it may be too much for your group to handle alone."

Cynder speaks up, "Lugia is right Charonus. Only as a team will we be able to do this."

Silver looks towards Cynder, "Then let Lance, Clair, and myself join you as well, please."

Draco looks over at Silver, "Wait, are you sure about that?"

Silver nods, as well as Lance and Clair.

Lugia and Ho-oh look upon the three humans, wondering why they would want to do this.

Lance sees their gaze, "Johto is not only your home, but our home as well. If someone threatens our home, they threaten everyone that resides there. We do this to help those that can't protect themselves."

Ho-oh nods, "The humans cause is just...but I hope they are prepared for the battle ahead."

Cynder relays the message to Clair, Lance, and Silver. The three humans nod in understanding.

Lugia smiles, "Then we should not keep my brother waiting. Charonus, Bowser, Chase, you shall ride with me."

Ho-oh nods, "Then I shall take the humans. The fighting will probably start once we reach the summit. Stay on your guard."

The group takes off and heads for the battleground on the summit once again.

Shadow Lugia sits upon the mountaintop stoicly after completing setting up his Shadow Sky. He opens his eyes as he senses the group getting closer, "Finally, the little Charmander and his group comes to play heros."

Shadow Mewtwo sighs from within Shadow Lugia's being, " _Don't underestimate them. They are more powerful than they look._ "

Shadow Lugia gets a little angry, "I already know that, and don't worry I am sticking to the plan...eventhough I still don't like it."

Shadow Mewtwo responds, " _Yes, I know you don't like it, but it will help us claim the young one in time. It may take days, months or even years, but he will be ours once we manage to take control of his darkness._ "

As the pair talk, the group arrives.

Shadow Lugia looks over as he feels them land and is surprised to see who came with the Charmander. "Well, what a pleasent surprize. After that stunt you pulled, I thought you were dead Ho-oh."

Ho-oh responds, "It will take more than what happened to destroy me completely. You forget that a phoenix is reborn in flames."

Lugia chimes in, "I hope that you are ready brother...eventhough it will pain me to get rid of you, it must be done for the prosperity of Johto."

Shadow Lugia scoffs, "Prosperity brother? Human fighting human, Pokemon fighting Pokemon, even humans fighting against Pokemon and vice versa. That isn't prosperity. It is a spiral of violence that must be stopped, and only a force of true power can stop it. Subjugation or extinction...one way or another all will fall in line!"

Charonus listens to this. A burning hatred wells up inside hearing those words, "Rule by your tyrannical ideas will never work. Yes there are those that want to harm, but there are those, like my group and those here with me today that work with eachother in the hope that peace can prosper. It will if we keep the balance within and without!"

Shadow Lugia begins to laugh and taunt Charonus, "Balance? Bah, such a pathetic concept. Teeter on that knife's edge long enough and you will be split. I see it within your future."

Charonus keeps calm, "There is no way of knowing what future has in store. I will work to make it a bright future!"

Shadow Lugia sighs, "You are going to go through with this...so be it. It ends here. Show me your light and let me eclipse it with my shadows."

Another voice is heard from Shadow Lugia, " _And let me join in the fun as well._ " As this voice says that, Shadow Mewtwo materializes beside Shadow Lugia.

Draco, Cynder, and Bowser gasp in horror, seeing someone they vanquished standing before them again.

Charonus stares down this old nemesis, "So, you have returned to torment me again? You won't win this time either."

Shadow Mewtwo laughs, "I have already won, you just don't see it yet. Now show me the fires of the Charizard that rest within you!"

Charon speaks up from within Charonus, "If you want, but Charonus and myself fight as one." Charonus' aura flares out as he and Charon combine forms again in their Charizard form.

Shadow Lugia smiles, "But for how long will you be one. This bond will be broken!"

As Shadow Lugia keeps Charonus' and Charon's attention, Shadow Mewtwo secretly prepares the first stages of his plan by making a Shadow Slash attack near the three humans.

Out of the corner of Cynder's eye, she notices the Shadow Slash, "Silver, Clair, Lance!"

Bowser hears Cynder yell out and rushes to their aid with a Whirling Fortress, knocking the Shadow Slash away with his shell, "Such a low being you are..."

Chase snarls at Shadow Mewtwo, "How dare you try and do that to our friends!"

Shadow Lugia perks his head up, "Well now, is that the little doggie I hear?"

Chase looks towards Shadow Luga as he speaks to Cynder and the group, "You guys take care of the cat, I want to chomp some bird for what he did to me."

Draco nods, "Keep yourself and Charonus safe."

Chase nods and heads off, leaving Draco and his group with Lance and his group.

Shadow Mewtwo looks at the group of humans and Draco's group before him, "Six versus one seems hardly fair."

Bowser snarls, "Fair, like how you used that one human's Pokemon against us when we fought last?"

Shadow Mewtwo smiles, "Just evening up the playing field."

Cynder gets a little mad, "Using others for your own gain. That is just terrible."

Shadow Mewtwo looks at the dragoness, "Tell ya what, I promise I won't take control of anyone to do my fighting for me, as long as the humans stay out of the way. I want to see your trio's full power. Show me this balance that the little Charmander has ben enamored with."

Bowser cracks his knuckles, "Gladly, I've been meaning to give you a personal beating ever since that stunt at Cinnabar."

Cynder looks back at Lance, Silver and Clair, "Go help out Charonus, let us handle this."

Shadow Mewtwo smiles as he watches the humans run past, "Sending them to their doom, how nice of you."

Draco stares Shadow Mewtwo down, "It is you and Shadow Lugia who will go down."

Shadow Mewtwo smiles as he forms blades of shadow upon his paws, then quickly rushes in to attack Draco. Bowser quickly gets in the way and blocks for his Charizard buddy.

Bowser looks at his friend, "Don't hold back Draco, you as well Cynder. Lets finish this quickly."

Draco and Cynder nod as they prepare to attack with all of their might.

Shadow Mewtwo smiles at this and backs off somewhat, " _Yes, come at me. The sooner you overpower me, the sooner that my plan to control the Charmander will be done!_ "

As Draco, Cynder, and Bowser begin their fight, Charonus, Charon, and Chase stare down Shadow Lugia.

Shadow Lugia looks towards Chase, "How have you been enjoying life as a lowly dog."

Chase growls, but doesn't answer.

Shadow Lugia laughs, "Oooh, touched a nerve have I. I'm sorry, hehe."

Charonus looks at Chase, then back to Shadow Lugia, "Tell me, why did you do this to him? Why change his form?"

Shadow Lugia laughs louder, "Oh, that? I did it for fun, but also to keep him out of the way. He should of stayed in his own region and never of tried to visit my dear brother."

Chase barks out suddenly, "He is my friend! I will visit him when I want."

Shadow Lugia scoffs, "Friendship? With a worthless shell like yourself. Please..."

Chase's anger boils over and he leaps at Shadow Lugia with a surprising combination of Slash, knocking the shadow avian back, followed by a Ice Beam attack, shaking Shadow Lugia to his core.

"W-wait, how is this possible? I sealed your attacks. You are a Houndoom. Ice is beyond you!"

Charon sees this and smiles somewhat, "You think that ice is beyond a fire types capabilities? He's just tapped into his inner self, just like Charonus has with me." Charon and Charonus charge towards Shadow Lugia themselves using Volt Tackle to get in close, followed by a Ice Fang, clamping down and freezing Shadow Lugia's left wing.

Shadow Lugia caws in anger as he tosses Charonus and Chase away from him, "The plan be damned, I'm taking you two down now! There is no place for you two in my new world of shadow!"

He charges himself up and takes aim, but at that very moment Shadow Lugia gets slammed by a twin Hydro Pump followed by a Hyper Beam. He looks around and sees a Feraligatr, Kingdra, and Dragonite standing behind Chase and Charonus.

Clair taunts Shadow Lugia, "Looks like someone needed to cool off. You were squaking a bit too much."

Shadow Lugia glares at the three humans, "How dare you mock me. You and your Pokemon will be exiled by forefiting your lives for my new rule!"

Charonus smiles, "It really is a shame. Such an unbalanced mind. Your fall is fast approaching."

Shadow Lugia composes himself as best he can, "As I have said, balance is like a knife's edge..."

Charon frowns, "Charonus and myself know, but we will hold balance for as long as we can."

In that moment, Shadow Mewtwo comes flying into Shadow Lugia looking battered. He looks up to Shadow Lugia and speaks to him with telepathy, " _The time is now, lets enact the plan._ "

Shadow Lugia scoffs, " _If this plan doesn't work, you will be the one eclipsed forever by my mind. Do not forget that._ "

Shadow Mewtwo smiles, " _It will work, trust me. The little one wants balance, and he will try to balance us with his own power, but first we must cast off our mortal forms._ "

Shadow Lugia smiles as he takes Shadow Mewtwo back into his form. His body begins to glow in a dark light, "Time to end this charade then. The shadows will swallow you!"

Charon and Charonus in tandem respond, "We will balance the darkness with light. Your plans stop here!" Charonus and Charon look at the group behind him, "Everyone, use your most powerful attacks. Take this being of darkness down!"

Lugia looks at his dark brother and silently whispers, " _Forgive me for being unable to save you...but you have gone too far to darkness..."_

Ho-oh looks upon Shadow Lugia, "With this, the land of Johto will be spared from your tyrranical ideas. The shadows will be balanced by the brightness of our light!"

Charonus and Charon prepare themselves, putting all of their power into their multi attack of the abilities they learned from their travels so far.

Chase preps himself, drawing deep from within some locked away ice power and adds it to Charon's and Charonus' attack.

Draco, Cynder, and Bowser prepare themselves as well, channeling their attacks together into a fiery ball of plasma energy.

Silver, Lance, and Clair order their Pokemon to use all of their might and strongest attacks and coordinate with the others.

Ho-oh, and even Lugia charge up as well with a Sacred Fire and Aeroblast respectively.

Charon yells out, "Everyone, give me your power. Add it to my attacks!"

Everyone takes aim and combines their attacks with Charon's and Charonus'. Once they do this, they fall to the ground exhausted and can only watch as the Charizard before them takes control before they eventually pass out from the strain of giving the Charizard all of their energy. The single bodied duo strains quite a bit from this power given to them, but they manage to keep their balance. They take aim at Shadow Lugia who waits stoicly and refuses to defend. The duo puts this out of their mind and lets the combined attack go, dropping to their knees as they watch.

Shadow Lugia looks at the oncoming attack as it strikes him square in the chest. Before the attack engulfs him completely he lets out a sickening laugh of someone who is lost to darkness, much like Giovanni before. This shakes Charonus and Charon a bit as they see Shadow Lugia completely engulfed now.

The attack burns bright, but then starts to shrink in size and power eventually dissipating into nothingness, except for two small jewels that shine with a dark light. Charonus falls down completely with a smile on his face before falling unconsious and losing his form. Both his inner and outer selves now in a deep slumber

The group wakes sometime later and looks around, not seeing Shadow Lugia.

Draco shakily gets to his feet, "D-did we...do it?"

Cynder gets up slowly as well and takes a look around, spotting Charonus near the spot where Shadow Lugia stood, "I don't see Shadow Lugia. He must have done it."

Chase gets up and kneels over Charonus and nuzzles him, "Charonus? We did it. Wake up." He continues to try and rouse his Charmander friend from his sleep.

Clair comes over to Chase and Charonus. Chase looks at Clair with a sad look on his face. Clair looks down at the Houndoom, "It may have been too much for him. We need to get him back to the Reception Gate."

As the group gets back together, Charonus wanders his dreamworld and spots Charon, "Charon? Did we do it?"

Charon looks at Charonus, "That...I have no idea."

As the Charmander sleeps, his body begins to show signs of some change within. His body begins to get hot, worrying his friends.

Bowser looks towards Lugia and Ho-oh, "He's burning up. We gotta get him help now!"

The group makes their way and hurries to the Reception Gate to get their friend the help he needs after this tough battle.


	17. Chapter 17

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 17: Transformation of the Flame**

As the group begins to rush Charonus back to the Reception Gate, Chase stays behind for a moment when something shiny catches his eye. He goes over to the source and finds two jewels laying on the snow covered ground. He picks the jewels up and places them with the Silver Wing he has in his bone like collar.

"Chase, are you coming?" Cynder yells out to the Houndoom nearby, coming back up to the summit when she didn't see Chase with the group.

Chase replies, "Y-yeah, I'm coming Cynder!" He runs over to join the dragoness and rejoin the group.

The group makes record time down Mount Silver, arriving at the Reception Gate. They head inside and rush over to the Pokecenter nurse that is there.

She looks at the group with a bit of surprize, "Ummm...why are you looking all flustered today. Has something happened?"

Bowser holds out his arms and shows Charonus, who is still asleep and running quite a high fever, "He collapsed at the mountaintop and we can't seem to wake him. He's also running a pretty high fever."

Draco frowns, "Is there anything that you can do?"

The Pokecenter nurse looks at Charonus, then back at the group, "He looks quite sick indeed, but the Reception Gate isn't quite equipped to handle this, but we can quickly get to a Pokecenter if we fly him to the Indigo Plateau. I will accompany you there."

Cynder reponds to this, "We will do what is needed to get him the help he needs."

The Pokecenter nurse replies back, "Then we must go quickly. The Indigo Plateau is just north of here."

Lance speaks up, "I will show you the way. Come with me."

The group follows Lance and his Dragonite, with Bowser and Chase riding upon Lugia to get there. Silver and Clair make their way with the group as well upon the back of Clair's Dragonite. Once at the Indigo Plateau, they head into the on-site Pokecenter. The Pokecenter nurse takes Charonus carefully and rushes him into a nearby room where she can monitor what is happening to him.

Meanwhile in Charonus' dreamscape, Charonus looks around and feels something off, "I feel kind of strange...I can't seem to wake up."

Charon looks over at Charonus, "I feel the same way...I have tried to come out when you exhausted yourself, but I can't get to the waking world as well."

Charonus worries a little, "Why can't I waken. What is holding me here?"

Charon tries to console his outer self, "Keep a calm head Charonus. This is no time to lose your cool."

Charonus paces back and forth in his dreamscape, "Did what we do use up too much power, and my body is telling me I need a lot of sleep? That has to be it. I just got to wait it out."

Charon nods at this, "That sounds like what is going on to me. Your body has to rebalance its energies I guess."

Charonus sits down next to Charon, "I sure hope the others are alright..."

Charon smiles a bit, "I bet they are fine. They are quite a strong bunch from what I have seen of them from in here."

Bowser and Chase pace around outside the ICU room of the Pokecenter while everyone waits to hear from the nurse that is tending to Charonus.

Cynder looks over at them, "Bowser, Chase, can you two please sit down. You are going to wear a groove in the floor with your pacing."

Bowser looks over at Cynder, "I'm just really worried about Charonus...It is hard to stay calm."

Chase frowns a bit as he stops pacing, "I really want him to be alright...he needs to be alright."

Draco sighs, "I'm worried about him too, but Cynder is right. We need to be calm in this moment, for Charonus' sake. He wouldn't want to see us pacing around with worry."

Chase and Bowser relent and take a seat near Cynder and Draco as they wait for any word.

Charonus looks around his dreamworld again as he continues to wonder what is happening in the outside world. Charon keeps an eye on him and watches as he gets more restless.

"Charonus, please calm yourself...you're worrying me." Charon says to his light side.

Charonus sighs and relents, "I guess my mind is too focused on the outside...I just need to know if the others are ok."

Charon sighs, "I keep going over this, but something seems to be changing in here, keeping us locked away for the time being. I'm not sure what it is, but I hope it's a good thing."

They continue to talk as they wait for any signs of what is happening.

The Pokecenter nurse looks over Charonus' vitals and sees quite the imbalance in the Charmanders power. She begins to try to keep Charonus comfortable while some Chansey begin to try to heal him. She exits the Pokemon ICU and meets with the group.

The nurse sighs a bit, "His power is spiking wildly, that is what is causing his fever and the reason he hasn't been able to waken. I have the Chansey here trying to help the best that they can, but the only one that can truly help out is himself."

Draco sighs, "So we just have to wait?"

The nurse simply nods.

Cynder looks at Draco, "As long as we stay by his side he will be alright..."

Draco turns to Cynder, "I really hope so, but I want to help him more so badly. He's our friend and we must do what we can for him."

Cynder takes a hold of Draco's paw in hers, "Please don't lose your cool. I'm just as worried as you are, but there really isn't much we can do. We just have to have hope and wait."

Draco turns away for a moment, then an idea comes to him, "I wonder if his grandfather is still at the valley. Maybe he knows how to help."

Clair looks over after listening in to the pairs discussion, "Wait, his grandfather? Could it be the old Charizard of Balance?"

Bowser gets into the conversation as well, "Charizard of Balance? What are you talking about Clair?"

Clair stands up and walks over to the group, "A very wise, courageous and powerful Charizard that sees over balance. He has been there for every major event that has happened to the lands of Johto and Kanto. I think Lance even saw him streak across the sky after the dark clouds were blown away. He happened to be with the Kantonian legend Mewtwo."

Lance smiles, "Yes, it was him Clair. As far as I know, he has left a long legacy behind him as well." He looks towards his Dragonite and nods, "He may still be in Johto at the Chariciffic Valley. I'll bring him here fast and see if he can help out your friend." Lance takes off with Dragonite and heads off to the valley.

Charon looks down at Charonus, who has now taken a resting position against his dark self, "Resting well Charonus?"

Charonus looks up, "I am still quite restless...but I'm trying to be optimistic. I wish I knew what was going on though."

A voice comes over to Charonus and Charon, "Don't be afraid, the time for your next step has come."

Charonus stands up with a jolt and looks around, "Huh? Who said that?"

The voice continues, "You are growing and changing. The next stage of your life will begin, but only if you want it to occur. You must make the decision to take that first step."

Charonus continues to look around, but still doesn't see where the voice is coming from, "Where are you. Please show yourself."

A Charizard shows up in the distance of the dreamscape and slowly comes into view.

Charonus instantly recognizes who it is, "M-mom? Please, tell me what is going on?" He runs over to her.

Charisa hugs her little boy and looks into his eyes, "Just as I said, the next stage in your life is about to begin. Your body is showing the first signs, but you are not quite balanced enough. You must balance your inner and outer self as well as your mind, body and soul and take your first step to the next stage."

Before the group even knows it, Lance has returned, and by his side the Charizard Caretaker stands.

The Caretaker sees everyone that is there and greets them before getting to the task at hand, "Can you tell me what has led to Charonus being in his current state?"

Draco speaks up, "We battled against another force of shadow in the form of a Lugia. Charonus took it upon himself to use our power in an all out attack that did put the shadow avian down, but after he did, he collapsed and we haven't ben able to wake him."

The Caretaker sighs, "I see...it is possible his balance wasn't quite enough to take that kind of power. Is there a chance that I can see him to confirm my suspicions?"

Lance turns to the Pokecenter nurse and asks for the Caretaker. The nurse nods and allows him into Charonus' room.

The Caretaker looks upon Charonus and places a paw upon his head. He feels the heat radiating from his grandson and sighs, "It looks like what they say is true. His body is trying to go to the next stage, but his mind and soul are not quite in tune with it."

The Caretaker walks out of the room and looks towards the group, "A change is beginning to take place within Charonus, but the change won't happen unless he balances his inner and outer selves. His body is ready, but his mind and soul are not. I have seen this happen in other Charmanders, but not to such an extent as this."

Draco looks over, "Is there any way to help him?"

The Caretaker smiles, "There is, the token I have given you has a strange power..."

Cynder cuts off the Caretaker, "The Token of Balance. We have seen it in action when Charonus used up his energy some time ago."

The Caretaker nods, "Yes, it can bring into balance any deviation in the mind, body or soul. Charonus' imbalance lies in the residual energy contained in his body. The balance has been thrown off by this. Come with me Draco, Bowser, and Cynder." The three follow the Caretaker and stand around Charonus.

"Now, Draco, hold the token above Charonus while standing on his left side. Bowser stand at the head of Charonus, and Cynder stand on his right while holding your hands on the token with Draco."

The three nod and feel a surge of energy from the token that shines over Charonus. The Chansey stand back and watch, wondering what is happening.

Charonus hugs closer into his mothers embrace, "I still don't quite understand. What is this next stage you are talking about?"

Charzen comes forward from the darkness in the dreamscape and smiles at his son, "She means that it is time for you to grow up son. Every Charmander goes through this change once their core tells them to, and your core is telling you that it is time. It is waiting for you to accept this change that will occur within you, but you must bring yourself into balance. Your body is not one with your mind or soul after the attack you used. Too much excess energy has been put into you and thrown off your equilibrium."

Charonus takes this all in and thinks for a moment, "How do I bring myself back to balance then?"

Charisa smiles, "It will come in time. Just concentrate on your past experiences and think about balance and keep thinking about that as you move into the future."

Charon watches on at the interaction, then feels something odd course through him. A light spot appears from his core and shoots out towards Charonus. The light enters Charonus' core and disappears into nothingness. Charonus looks at Charon without saying a word and wonders what just happened

Draco, Cynder, and Bowser fall to their knees after the light from the token subsides.

The Caretaker feels Charonus' head again and notices his fever has reduced, "We have done all we can now. The rest is up to Charonus."

Draco stands back up, "Will this work?"

The Caretaker replies, "Only time will tell my Charizard friend. Let us wait with the others."

The group returns to the others and tells them of Charonus' condition. They continue to wait and see if their Charmander friend will recover from this imbalance.

Charonus leaves the embrace of his mother and walks over to Charon. He looks up at his inner 'Zard self, "Do you have any idea what that was?"

Charon shakes his head, "None...but it felt warm, like a feeling of friendship."

Charonus thinks for a moment, "I wonder if the others are trying to help us figure this out as well."

Charon places a paw upon Charonus' shoulder, "It's possible. You have a good set of friends out there in the waking world. I hate to admit, but sometimes I feel a bit jealous being stuck in here while you are out there being around them, but their feelings do reach me too."

Charonus smiles, "I'll make sure to tell them that you consider them your friends as well."

Charon hugs his outer Charmander self and the strange light reappears from both of them. The light slowly gets brighter and encompasses the pair.

Chase looks into the window of the Pokemon ICU at Charonus. He watches as the Chansey monitor Charonus' progress. Suddenly Charonus' body starts to glow in a bright white light, shocking the Chansey and even shocking Chase.

"H-hey guys? Something is happening to Charonus!" Chase barks out.

The whole group turn to look towards the ICU window and get blinded by the immense light coming from it.

Bowser speaks up, "W-what is happening here?"

Cynder responds, "I really don't have an answer for it Bowser. Was it something we did?"

The Caretaker calmly walks over to the window and smiles, "Looks like that did the trick. His inner and outer selves are drawing closer together. Energies are rebalancing, and with that his body is changing to better suit that power."

Draco looks over towards the Caretaker, "His body is changing? You don't mean that he's evolving into a Charmeleon do you? It's only been three years since our journey began."

The Caretaker looks back at Draco, "Yes Draco, he is evolving. I do agree though with your statement. He is quite young, but his core has told him it is time."

The group continues to watch as the light begins to dim. They see what looks like a red hued scaled lizard with noticeable claws on his paws. Upon his head a single horn, centered in the middle of his head sweeps upward. His tail is now longer to accomodate the balance of his greater size and his tailflame burns bigger and brighter. This new lizard slowly stirs and wakes up from his slumber.

Charonus feels himself waken, and as he does, he groggily looks around and sees the Pokemon ICU room that he is in. As he is looking around, something catches his eye as he looks at his own paws, "H-huh...w-what is going on?" He begins to look himself over, noting quite a few changes that have taken place. He happens to find a nearby mirror and looks himself over in greater depth, "Is this what my mom and dad meant about my next step?" He looks over at the window and sees all of his friends staring back, even noticing his grandfather there as well. The Chansey make their way over to give him one last checkover to make sure that he is alright. Charonus doesn't complain and calmly waits.

The group is eventually waved in once the checkup is complete. They gather around their friend, smiling and hugging him.

The Caretaker kneels down and hugs Charonus tightly, "I'm so proud of you my grandson. You are now a Charmeleon."

Charonus looks up at his grandfather, "A Charmeleon? Is that what this new form is called?"

Draco laughs, "Yeah, and it is quite surprizing that you changed into one at such a young age."

The Caretaker nods, "It is a little strange to me as well. Your mother was age ten when she attained her Charmeleon state. I kind of wonder if this has something to do with Charisa and Charzen's power. They both were exceptionally powerful Charizards. Some of their power could of been transferred to you."

Charonus takes a little time to take this all in. He thinks in his mind for a moment that with this new body of his that he is going to have to work even harder to train in balance. He also wonders what happened to Charon inside him. Did this change him as well?

As he wonders this, the group decides to take a rest in the Indigo Plateau before deciding what their next plans are. From outside the building, Ho-oh and Lugia stand watch and smile at what has transpired today.

As the night arrives and the group sleeps in rooms provided for them, a soft glow of dark light can be seen radiating from Chase's collar crawling over to Charonus. The light wraps around him and dissipates, leaving no trace that it was ever there. If one were to listen closely though, the faintest of laughs can be heard. One feline in origin, the other avian.


	18. Chapter 18

**Johto Saga**

 **Chapter 18: Travel Upon Silvered Wings to a New Land**

Charonus slowly wakes the following morning after his evolution. A dream that he had during the night stays fresh in his mind, "What a strange dream...it felt like the two shadows were somehow still around, but that just isn't true." Charonus tries to put the dream out of his mind. He eventually heads outside to see the Diving Pokemon and the Rainbow Pokemon still watching guard.

"Sleep well young Charmeleon?" Lugia asks.

Charonus replies back, "Yeah, I slept like a log after what happened yesterday."

Ho-oh smiles at Charonus, "Well that's good. Before you decide what to do next, there is one more training exersize to complete. I never got to give you my training due to that whole Shadow Lugia fiasco."

Charonus looks at Ho-oh and realizes that he is right, "Oh man...I kind of forgot about that in the turmoil that Shadow Lugia caused."

Ho-oh nods, "I'll give you some time to prepare yourself, then I shall impart my knowledge of Sacred Fire unto you."

Charonus smiles and goes to get ready for his new training.

The rest of the group slowly wakes from their slumbers and converse amongst themselves about yesterdays events. Chase sits off in his own corner though and takes out the two jewels from the mountaintop and stares at them for a bit.

Cynder eventually notices Chase and heads over to see why he isn't with the group, "Chase? What are you doing off by yourself over here?"

Chase turns to face Cynder, still holding the two jewels on his paw. When Cynder takes a closer look she sees that one of the jewels is silver and black in color and the other is golden where the silver from the first jewel is.

Cynder asks the Houndoom, "Where did you find these Chase?"

Chase responds, "On the mountaintop in the area where Shadow Lugia was felled."

Cynder's face shows some worry, "Chase, can you hand those to me. They still might be dangerous."

Chase looks down at the jewels then hands them to Cynder, "I didn't know...but I just couldn't leave them there."

Cynder reassures Chase, "It's alright. They may be dangerous, but at least no others will be able to use them while we have them."

Chase inquires, "What are they anyway?"

Cynder answers, "They are like the jewels Charonus wears on that pendant he has. They are what is left over from a Pokemon who has passed away, or so I think. I'm still not quite sure yet."

Cynder and Chase rejoin the rest of the group and Cynder shows the others the two jewels Chase found. They decide to let Lugia and Ho-oh know as well.

As they exit from the building at the Indigo Plateau they see Charonus in his Charizard dreamform recieving training from Ho-oh, much like the training he recieved from Lugia.

Cynder walks over to Lugia who is currently monitoring Charonus' progress, "Lugia, could I speak to you for a moment?"

Lugia looks over at the dragoness wondering what she wants to talk about, "What is it Cynder. Something seems to be on your mind."

Cynder shows the two jewels to Lugia, "Chase happened to find these on the top of the mountain after Shadow Lugia was felled. What do you suppose we should do with them?"

Lugia looks at the jewels with some concern, "My brother's Pokecore...and Shadow Mewtwo's as well...I think we should wait and converse after Ho-oh and Charonus are done with their training. They should have a say in this as well. Let us not rush to judgement too soon."

Cynder nods, "I agree with your assessment Lugia. We shall wait then."

Charonus stands amidst the flames of Ho-oh attack, able to hold his own quite well after the power boost of his evolution. Eventually the attack from Ho-oh subsides and Charonus falls to a knee as he recovers from the strain that defending from an attack of that power usually puts him through.

Ho-oh looks over at Charonus as he reverts to his Charmeleon form again, "With that you have now earned the balance that Johto's legends can provide, as well as some new abilities that go with it. I hope that you will use those abilities for good and bring peace to the rest of the Pokeworld."

Charonus smiles as he stands back up. He then bows to Ho-oh, "I will make sure to keep the way of balance in my core as I continue my journey."

Lugia looks over and waves at Ho-oh and Charonus, "Now that your training is done, there is another matter that has just come to light that needs to be attended to."

Charonus looks over at the silver avian with a curious look on his face, "What do you mean Lugia?"

Ho-oh begins to join his avian friend beckoning Charonus to come with, "I guess we should just find out. Come Charonus."

The two make their way over and Cynder shows everyone the two Pokecores, "Chase found these at the mountaintop. We were wondering what should be done with them. They are too dangerous to just leave anywhere for any unsuspecting person or Pokemon to just happen on them."

Charonus takes a look at the two cores, then to his own that rest in his pendant, "I wonder what my parents would do in this situation..."

The Caretaker looks over at his grandson, "They would make sure that they stay out of the hands of those that would use them for evil. They would also look for a place that would help facilitate that if such a place is possible. I believe that your group should keep them until such a place can be found. It may be possible that other legends may have an idea as to where that may be."

Draco, Cynder, Bowser, Chase, and Charonus take a little time to converse amongst themselves for a bit before coming to a consensus that Charonus should keep hold of them as another facet of his training in balance until as such time that they can find a safe place to rid themselves of the two shadow cores.

The group then wonders what their next objective is. As they converse about this, Zardius and Charla land nearby.

Charonus smiles when he sees his uncle and aunt. It takes the pair a moment, but they smile once they realize that Charonus evolved.

"Well, what do we have here. You have grown up into a Charmeleon my nephew." says Zardius

Charla hugs Charonus, "They grow up so fast...in this case literally."

Charonus smiles, "Well, a lot has happened. It's good to see you though, because my group were getting ready to decide where to go next."

Lugia looks at the group, "Maybe you should look in the region of Hoenn. I hear the Weather Trio might be able to give you some help."

After hearing this, a picture forms in Charonus' mind of an island with a tower sitting upon it that reaches towards the sky. At the apex is a green, serpent like Pokemon. Charonus looks at Lugia and asks, "Does one of this Weather Trio happen to look like a large, green serpent?"

Lugia wonders how Charonus could possibly know this, "How do you know about Rayquaza? Only us legends should know about eachother."

Charonus looks at Lugia, "I have had dreams about regions I have never seen, and Pokemon I don't know. All of them so far have led me to you and the others along my journey."

Lugia nods, "I see. So you have a link to those you seek. It is strange, but also it is a boon to aid you on your travels."

Cynder asks as she looks over a map of the Pokeworld, "So Hoenn is our next destination huh. How are we going to get there. A lot of ocean lies between us and there."

Lugia smiles, "You're in luck today. Before all this mess with my brother started I was going to head there for a matter I needed to attend to. I can get you there if you want."

Bowser looks at Lugia, "Riding on the back of a legend to a new land. Hope you can bear the weight of my shell for that long."

Charonus laughs, "I wouldn't worry about that Bowser. I think an avian of this size can take it."

Lugia blushes, "You guys are too much. I hope you keep that light on your travels. If you guys are ready to go, I shall ferry Chase, Bowser and Charonus upon my back."

Ho-oh smiles, "I hope you take care my friend."

Lugia smiles, "I always do silly."

Charonus, Chase and Bowser climb upon Lugia's back and feel him lift off slowly. Cynder and Draco take off along side him. The group waves to the others that are still on the ground.

Zardius yells out to Charonus, "You take care nephew. Don't be afraid to come visit us again at the valley if you get the chance. Your aunt and myself will be eager to see you again."

Charonus smiles and yells back, "I won't forget you two. I'll be back someday. I promise."

Lance, Clair, and Silver even say their goodbys to the group. The dragon Pokemon that are with them give a goodbye wave.

Lugia, Draco, and Cynder turn and head off in the direction of Hoenn and are soon just specs on the horizon. The ones left at the Indigo Plateau smile and keep waving until the group can no longer be seen.


End file.
